No persuasions could ever induce him to revisit the city; on the contrary, he would always 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 his own hand grew up and formed a screen that effectually excluded it from the prospect. He railed continually at the degenerate innovations and improvements introduced by the conquerors; forbade a word of their detested language to be spoken in his family,—a prohibition readily obeyed, since none of the household could speak anything but Dutch,—and even ordered a fine avenue to be cut down in front of his house because it consisted of English cherry-trees.
The same incessant vigilance, which blazed forth when he had a vast province under his care, now showed itself with equal vigor, though in narrower limits. He patrolled with unceasing watchful-ness the boundaries of his little territory; repelled every encroachment with intrepid promptness; punished every vagrant depredation upon his orchard or his farm-yard with inflexible severity; and conducted every stray hog or cow in triumph to the pound. But to the indigent neighbor, the friendless stranger, or the weary wanderer, his spacious doors were ever open, and his capacious fireplace, 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 ill-starred applicant were 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 peradventure some straggling merchant of the East should stop at his door, with his cart-load of tin ware or wooden bowls, the fiery Peter would issue forth like a giant from his castle, and make such a furious clattering among his pots and kettles, that the vender of “notions”ps was fain to betake himself to instant flight.
His suit of regimentals, worn threadbare by the brush, were carefully hung up in the state bed-chamber, and regularly aired the first fair day of every month; and his cocked hat and trusty sword were suspended in grim repose over the parlor mantelpiece, forming supporters to a full-length portrait of the renowned Admiral Van Tromp.pt In his domestic empire he maintained strict discipline and a well-organized despotic government; but though his own will was the supreme law, yet the good of his subjects was his constant object. He watched over, not merely their immediate comforts, but their morals, and their ultimate welfare; for he gave them abundance of excellent admonition, nor could any of them complain, that, when occasion required, he was by any means niggardly in bestowing wholesome correction.
The good old Dutch festivals, those periodical demonstrations of an overflowing heart and a thankful spirit, which are falling into sad disuse among my fellow-citizens, were faithfully observed in the mansion of Governor Stuyvesant. New-Year was truly a day of open-handed liberality, of jocund revelry, and warm-hearted congratulation, when the bosom swelled with genial good-fellowship, and the plenteous table was attended with an unceremonious freedom, and honest broad-mouthed merriment, unknown in these days of degeneracy and refinement. Paas and Pinxterpu were scrupulously observed throughout his dominions; nor was the day of St. Nicholas suffered to pass by, without making presents, hanging the stocking in the chimney, and complying with all its other ceremonies.
Once a year, on the first day of April, he used to array himself in full regimentals, being the anniversary of his triumphal entry into New Amsterdam, after the conquest of New Sweden. This was always a kind of saturnalia among the domestics, 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 unbend, and become exceeding pleasant and jocose, sending the old grayheaded negroes on April-fool’s errands for pigeon’s milk; not one of whom but allowed himself to be taken in, and humored his old master’s jokes, as became a faithful and well-disciplined dependant. Thus did he reign, happily and peacefully on his own land—injur—ing no man—envying no man—molested by no outward strifes—perplexed by no internal commotions;—and the mighty monarchs 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 Manna-hata, and learned a lesson in government from the domestic economy of Peter Stuyvesant.
In process of time, however, the old governor, like all other children of mortality, began to exhibit evident tokens of decay. Like an aged oak, which, though it long has braved the fury of the elements, and still retains its gigantic proportions, begins to shake and groan with every blast—so was it with the gallant Peter; for though he still bore the port and semblance of what he was in the days of his hardihood and chivalry, yet did age and infirmity begin to sap the vigor of his frame,—but his heart, that unconquerable citadel, still triumphed unsubdued. With matchless avidity 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 victories of De Ruyter,pv and his countenance lower, and his eyebrows knit, when fortune turned in favor of the English. At length, as on a certain day he had just smoked his fifth pipe, and was napping after dinner, in his arm-chair, conquering the whole British nation in his dreams, he was suddenly aroused by a ringing of bells, rattling of drums, and roaring of cannon, that put all his blood in a ferment. But when he learnt that these rejoicings were in honor of a great victory obtained by the combined English and French fleets over the brave De Ruyter, and the younger Van Tromp, it went so much to his heart, that he took to his bed, and in less than three days was brought to death’s door, by a violent cholera morbus! Even in this extremity he still displayed the unconquerable spirit of Peter the Headstrong; holding out to the last gasp, with inflexible obstinacy, against a whole army of old women who were bent upon driving the enemy out of his bowels, in the true Dutch mode of defence, by inundation.
While he thus lay, lingering on the verge of dissolution, news was brought him that the brave De Ruyter had made good his retreat, with little loss, and meant once more to meet the enemy in battle. The closing eye of the old warrior kindled with martial fire at the words,—he partly raised himself in bed,—clinched his withered hand, as if he felt within his gripe that sword which waved in triumph before the walls of Fort Christina, and giving a grim smile of exultation, sank back upon his pillow, and expired.
Thus died Peter Stuyvesant,—a valiant soldier—a loyal subject—an upright governor, and an honest Dutchman,—who wanted only a few empires to desolate, to have been immortalized as a hero!
His funeral obsequies were celebrated with the utmost grandeur and solemnity The town was perfectly emptied of its inhabitants, who crowded in throngs to pay the last sad honors to their good old governor. All his sterling qualities rushed in full tide upon their recollection, while the memory of his foibles and his faults had expired with him. The ancient burghers contended who should have the privilege of bearing the pall; the populace strove who should walk nearest to the bier; and the melancholy procession was closed by a number of grayheaded negroes, who had wintered and summered in the household of their 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 virtues, the signal services, and the gallant exploits of the brave old worthy. They recalled, with secret upbraidings, their own factious oppositions to his government; and many an ancient burgher, whose phlegmatic features had never been known to relax, nor his eyes to moisten, was now observed to puff a pensive pipe, and the big drop to steal down his cheek, while he muttered, with affectionate accent, and melancholy shake of the head—“Well, den!—Hardkoppig Peter ben gone at last!”
His remains were deposited in the family vault, under a chapel which he had piously erected on his estate, and dedicated to St. Nicholas,—and which stood on the identical spot at present occupied by St. Mark’s church, where his tombstone is still to be seen. His estate, or bouwery, as it was called, has ever continued in the possession of
his descendants, who, by the uniform integrity of their conduct, and their strict adherence to the customs and manners that prevailed in the “good old times,” have proved themselves worthy of their illustrious ancestor. Many a time and oft has the farm been haunted at night by enterprising money-diggers, 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 researches; and who is there, among my native-born fellow-citizens, that does not remember when, in the mischievous days of his boyhood, he conceived it a great exploit to rob “Stuyvesant’s orchard” on a holiday afternoon?
At this stronghold of the family may still be seen certain memorials of the immortal Peter. His full-length portrait frowns in martial terrors from the parlor-wall; his cocked hat and sword still hang up in the best bedroom; his brimstone- colored 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 treasured up in the store-room, as an invaluable relique.
Endnotes
Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent.
1 (p. 7) Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent.: Irving’s first publication, Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent., appeared serially in the New York Morning Chronicle from November 15, 1802, to April 23, 1803. The Chronicle was a pro-Burrite paper edited by Irving’s brother Peter. (The Burrites were a faction of the Democratic-Republican party led by Aaron Burr [1756-1836], the prominent New York politician who became Thomas Jefferson’s vice president following the election of 1800.) The first two of the nine letters are included in this edition because they exemplify Irving’s early efforts to establish a satiric narrative voice. Although he was only nineteen at the time, Irving assumed the narrative persona of an elderly bachelor critical of “the degeneracy of the present times” (p. 13). In his nostalgia for an idyllic past, Oldstyle anticipates Irving’s better-known narrators Diedrich Knickerbocker (A History of New York) and Geoffrey Crayon (The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.). These letters also reflect the cultural instability of the post-Revolutionary period, in which social values and political opinions seemed to change as quickly as fashion—“they fly from one extreme to the other” (p. 9).
2 (p. 11) There is nothing that seems more strange and preposterous to me than the manner in which modern marriages are conducted: Oldstyle’s comments on courtship and marriage can be usefully compared with the romantic characterization of marriage in Irving’s sketch “The Wife” (p. 65) and with the satire on courtship in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” (p. 162). The attitude toward marriage in Irving’s writings is often conflicted, and his female characters are either idealized beauties or shrewish wives.
Salmagundi
1 (p. 15) Salmagundi: Salmagundi; or, The Whim- Whams and Opinions of Launcelot Langstaff, Esq. & Others was a series of twenty pamphlets jointly written by Irving, his brother William, and their friend James Kirke Paulding and published over the course of a year, from January 24, 1807, to January 25, 1808. This selection includes the introductory remarks from the first number, the “Letters from Mustapha” from nos. III, VII, and XI, and the authors’ farewell in the final number. Of the three Mustapha letters, Bruce I. Granger and Martha Hartzog—the editors who prepared the modern scholarly edition of Salmagundi for The Complete Works of Washington Irving, vol. 6 (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1977; see “For Further Reading”)—definitively attribute to Irving only the one written for no. XI. The two others have been included in this edition to give readers a more complete sense of how the Mustapha series is a satire on America’s evolving democratic process. Besides these obvious political satires, the pages of Salmagundi lampoon a range of subjects in an effort “to do justice to this queer, odd, rantipole city, and to this whimsical country” (p. 44).
2 (p. 21) Several Tripolitan prisoners ... were brought to New York, ... restore them to their own country.—Paris Ed. [Irving’s note] : Irving refers here to the long-standing conflict between the United States and the Barbary states—northern Africa’s Tripolitania, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco—whose main port was Tripoli (now the capital of Libya). Tripoli served as the home base of the Barbary pirates, who targeted trade routes along the coast of northern Africa. In the First Barbary War, also known as the Tripolitan War (1801-1805), commander William Bainbridge was captured while trying to enforce a blockade of the harbor at Tripoli. The war serves as the historical backdrop for Irving’s satirical treatment of American politics in the “Letters from Mustapha.”
3 (p. 21) who understands all languages, not excepting that manufactured by Psalmanazar: The reference is to George Psalmanazar (1679?-1763), an English literary imposter whose real name is not known. He published An Historical and Geographical Description of Formosa (1704) and invented and taught to students at Oxford University a fictional “Formosan” language. His ruse was discovered in 1706, and he was forced to publicly acknowledge the fraud. Irving likely knew his posthumously published Memoirs of—, Commonly Known by the Name George Psalmanazar (1764). Psalmanazar may have provided the example Irving followed when he staged the literary hoax of Diedrich Knickerbocker’s disappearance to advertise the publication of A History of New York (see the Introduction, p. xxiii).
4 (p. 24) The present bashaw: “Bashaw,” or “pasha,” is a Turkish term that refers to a man of high rank. The reference here is to Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States (1801-1809). The “Letters of Mustapha” are consistently critical of Jefferson and his administration, lampooning his involvement in the Tripolitan War, presenting him as a disengaged dilettante, and satirizing his rejection of the Bible on scientific grounds (see pp. 28-29). A supporter of the Federalists (advocates of a strong federal government), Irving was sympathetic to those who thought the Jeffersonian Republicans were reducing the government to a “mobocracy” (see pp. 26-27).
5 (p. 26) No. VII.—Saturday, April 4, 1807: In this second “Letter from Mustapha,” the authors of Salmagundi coin a new term to describe America’s political system. Because of the seemingly endless debates characteristic of the democratic process, they describe it as a “logocracy, or government of words” (p. 27). The extent to which public opinion can be influenced by the press is a theme Irving returned to in his sketch “English Writers on America”: “Over no nation does the press hold a more absolute control than over the people of America” (p. 95).
6 (p. 43) In compliance with ... : The subsequent paragraphs are the editors’ farewell to their readership in the final number of Salmagundi. Paulding and the Irvings decided to end the series after their publisher, David Longworth, took out copyright in his name and raised the price to one shilling.
The Sketch-Book
1 (p. 47) The Sketch-Book: The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. was published consecutively in the United States and England. The first American edition appeared in seven paperbound numbers between June 23, 1819, and September 13, 1820. When several sketches from the early numbers were reprinted in British newspapers, Irving, fearing that a pirated edition would be published in England, arranged for a volume of the first four numbers to be published in London. He later arranged for the publication of a revised English edition that included the two Native American sketches “Traits of Indian Character” and “Philip of Pokanoket” and also the concluding “L’Envoy.” The publication history of The Sketch-Book is of interest because it shows Irving’s efforts to negotiate the transatlantic audience that American writers had to confront in the early decades of the nineteenth century. The first American edition began with the following “Prospectus”:The following writings are published on experiment; should they please they may be followed by others. The writer will have to contend with some disadvantages. He is unsettled in his abode, subject to interruptions, and has his share of cares and vicissitudes. He cannot therefore promise a regular plan, nor regular periods of publication. Should he be encouraged to proceed, much time may elapse between the appearance o
f his numbers; and their size must depend on the materials he has on hand. His writings will partake of the fluctuations of his own thoughts and feelings; sometimes treating of scenes before him; sometimes of others purely imaginary, and sometimes wandering back with his recollections to his native country. He will not be able to give them that tranquil attention necessary to finished composition, and as they must be transmitted across the Atlantic for publication, he must trust to others to correct the frequent errors of the press. Should his writings, however, with all their imperfections, be well received, he cannot conceal that it would be a source of the purest gratification, for though he does not aspire to those high honours that are the rewards of loftier intellects; yet it is the dearest wish of his heart to have a secure, and cherished, though humble, corner in the good opinions and kind feelings of his countrymen.
London, 1819
The first English edition began with the following “Advertisement”:
The following desultory papers are part of a series written in this country, but published in America. The author is aware of the austerity with which the writings of his countrymen have hitherto been treated by British critics: he is conscious, too, that much of the contents of his papers can be interesting only in the eyes of his American readers. It was not his intention, therefore, to have them reprinted in this country. He has, however, observed several of them from time to time inserted in periodical works of merit, and has understood that it was probable they would be republished in a collective form. He has been induced, therefore, to revise and bring them forward himself, that they may at least come correctly before the public. Should they be deemed of sufficient importance to attract the attention of critics, he solicits for them that courtesy and candour which a stranger has some right to claim, who presents himself at the threshold of a hospitable nation.
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