of thirty families of Walloons, hardy Protestants from the Flemish frontiers. During the severity of the religious persecution in the seventeenth century, they had fled from the Franco-Belgic provinces to Holland, and became domesticated there. An infant was their first production on American soil; and the name of Sarah De Rapalge, born at the Wallebogt, (Walloon Cove,) is chronicled as the first Christian child who saw the light in the province of New Netherland.

Holland was already a land of liberty and religious toleration, and from the first New Amsterdam so far followed the example of the mother country that, in the estimation of the rigid Puritans of the North and the Catholics of the South, she became a 66 cage of unclean birds."

In 1626 Peter Minuit arrived as governor of the colony. It was stipulated by the West India Company to send out, temporarily, with their emigrants, a schoolmaster, who, being a member of the Church, should also preside at the religious meetings, on the Sabbath and other days, leading in the devotions, and reading a sermon. Some individual was usually designated as a Ziekentrooster, (Comforter of the Sick,) who was to comfort the people and edify them, by rendering aid to the minister of the Gospel. Two individuals, whose names are preserved, came out with Peter Minuit in that capacity.

The first act of the governor was to purchase of the Indians the island of Manhattan. Of this interesting and most important event in the early history of New York we give an excellent illustration, engraved from the celebrated painting by William Ranney. The Dutch, foreseeing that the Island of Manhattan would, from its admirable position, become the center of their American commerce, and the capital of their province of New Netherland, desired to superadd to their original title, by discovery and occupation, the higher right of honest purchase. The natives ceded Manhattan, then estimated to contain twenty-two thousand acres of land, for the sum of twenty-four dollars.

The transaction is represented as occurring at the southern extremity of the island, near the present Battery. In the distance are the high grounds of Staten Island, with the nearer shore of Governors' Island in front, while a ship is lying at anchor not far from the shore. The principal figure

in the foreground is Director Minuit, attended by the Provincial Secretary, Isaac de Rasieres, the Schout, or Sheriff, the Kranck-besoecker, or "Consoler of the Sick," and various other officials. The dresses of these persons are all faithfully copied from authentic representations of the Dutch costume of that period. The red men, in their savage attire, with their sqaws and children, are engaged in examining, with wonder and delight, the trinkets and European cloths given them as the consideration for the purchase. In the background is the rough cabin with Dutch occupants, and the unsubdued forest. Neither Plymouth nor Boston can point to such an incident in their history. The purchase of Manhattan was imitated only by Penn, fifty-six years later, under the famous elm of Shackamaxon.

In 1633 came into office the redoubtable Wouter Van Twiller, "a model of majesty and lordly grandeur," as the charitable Knickerbocker lovingly calls the successor of Minuit.

He was exactly five feet five inches in height, and five feet six inches in circumference. His head was a perfect sphere, and of such stupendous dimensions that dame nature, with all her sex's ingenuity, would have been puzzled t›› construct a neck capable of supporting it; wherefore she wisely declined the attempt, and settled it firmly on the top of his backbone just between the shoulders. His body was oblong. and particularly capacious at the bottom, which was wisely ordered by Providence, seeing that he was a man of sedentary habits, and very averse to the idle labor of walking. His legs were very short, but steady in proportion to the weight they had to sustain, so that when erect he had not a little the appearance of a beer barrel on skids. His face, that inflexible index of the mind, presented a vast expanse, unfurrowed by any of those lines and angles which disfigure the human countenance with what is termied expression. Two small gray eyes twinkled feebly, like two stars of lesser magnitude in a hazy firmament, and his full fed cheeks, that seemed to have taken toll of everything that went into the mouth, were curiously mottled and streaked with a dusky red like a Spitzenberg apple. His habits were as regular as his person. He daily took his four stated meals, appropriating exactly an hour to each; he smoked and doubted eight hours, and he slept the remaining twelve of the four and twenty.

Van Twiller owed his appointment to a family connexion with the great Van Rensselaer. From a humble clerk the doughty Dutchman suddenly became a ruler of men. Yet, in spite of his inefficiency, New Amsterdam flourished. The West India Company had just established the

AN OLD DUTCH GROCERY.

patroons. One hundred and four soldiers were sent over to protect the colony. Schoolmaster Roelandsen came to instruct the children, and good Dominie Bogardus to lead in holy ways both old and young. At last the sleepy director fell into merited contempt. Even the dominie was constrained to call him a child of the devil, and threatened him with a terrible shake from the pulpit.

To their great surprise one day an English vessel, the "William," entered the waters of Manhattan, and boldly held her way up the Hudson, or the Mauritius, as the old river of the mountains was called by the Dutch, in honor of Prince Maurice.

The sluggish Van Twiller was succeeded in office by William Kieft, a turbulent adventurer, whose portrait had been gibbeted in the city of Rochelle. He was a quick-witted man, delighting in magnificent schemes, and possessing great alacrity in mischief. The Dutch claimed everything from Delaware River to Cape Cod. A few harmless Swedes settled along the former, and Kieft fought them valiantly with proclamations, declaring that if they persisted in remaining there he would not be responsible for the consequences.

He attempted to introduce reforms above the capacity of the people, and even of himself. The zealous director built a harberg, or city tavern, at the head of Coenties Slip, which afterward became a noted edifice. Kieft also kindled an Indian war that brought innumerable evils upon the natives, and came near exterminating the colony of Manhattan. Hitherto the settlers had lived in almost uninterrupted peace with their dusky neighbors, although the latter suffered greatly from the avarice and "firewater" of the traders. A chief of the Weekquaesgeeks had been murdered in cold blood fifteen years before, and the Indians can never forget an injury. The River Indians became jealous of the Mohawks on account of the partiality shown them by the Hollanders. Mutual animosities were excited. Kieft was delighted with the prospect of an outbreak. When the dark warriors brought the tribute of corn and wampum demanded by the governor they threw it at his feet with bitter curses. On a stormy night

of February, 1643, more than a hundred Indians were murdered in cold blood at Corlear's Hook and Hoboken. The flames of the burning villages were easily seen from Fort Amsterdam. The hatchet was now fairly raised, and the colony would have been exterminated had not the English furnished timely aid. The Indians were subdued after sixteen hundred of them had perished.

During these unfortunate events the "Council of Eight" sent home a dolorous account of the affairs of the province. They said:

Our fields lie fallen and waste; our dwellings and other buildings are burned; not a handful can be either planted or sown this fall on the deserted places. The crops which the good Lord permitted to come forth during the past summer remain on the field, standing and rotting in divers places, in the same way as the hay, for the preservation of which we poor people cannot obtain one man. We sit here amid thousands of Indians and barbarians, from whom we find neither peace nor mercy. We have left our beloved father-land, and unless the Lord our God, had been our comfort we must have perished in our misery. Several handsome buildings, erected by settlers upon their plantations, now lie in ashes through a foolish hankering after war; for all right-minded men here know that these Indians have lived as lambs among us until a few years ago, injuring no man, and affording every assistance to our nation. But now they rove in parties continually around, day and

night, on the Island of Manhattan, slaying our folks not a thousand paces from the fort; and it is arrived at such a pass that no one dares move a foot to fetch a stick of fire-wood without a strong escort.

But, however much occupied with the Indians, the busy Kieft found time to look

after the morals of New Amsterdam, which at this early period of her history do not appear to have been of the best character. Many and fierce were the proclamations sent forth against evil-doers. All persons were admonished to abstain

NEW YORK AS IT IS.

from fighting, from intercourse with heathens and negroes, from theft, calumny, and all other immoralities. The court sat on Thursday of each week, and absentees subjected themselves to a fine of one shilling for the first offense. Immoderate drinking also gave rise to much

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mischief. All persons, 'except those who sold wine at a decent price and in moderate quantities," were forbidden to sell any liquor under a penalty of twentyfive guilders and the loss of their stock. All sea-faring men found ashore after sunset were to forfeit two months' wages, and he who was guilty of selling guns or ammunition to the Indians was to be punished with death. The cultivation of tobacco was thus early regulated by law. All contracts, sales, or public acts, in order to be valid, had to be written by the secretary of the province, a measure that gave room to much complaint against the director, but was just, for the reason that the majority of the people were unable to read or write.

Stuyvesant, a man of honor and a wooden leg. became Kieft's successor. The colonists revered him " as if he had been the Czar of Muscovy." But while the new governor promised justice to every person, he emphatically declared it to be treason to petition against one's magistrates whether there be reason or not. "If any one shall appeal during my administration," he exclaimed, "I will make him a foot shorter, and send the pieces to Holland."

Under the vain, but energetic Stuyvesant, the Church became a state institution. The people, however, enjoyed religious toleration, and republican sentiments gained ground. The colonists had lived in the exercise of civil and religious liberty in the father-land, and they were not to be deprived of these sacred rights by the aristocratic and headstrong director of New Amsterdam.

A council of nine was organized, and the privilege of a burgher government granted, although Stuyvesant was greatly displeased with "this impudent intrusting of power with the people." A schout, two burgomasters, and five schepens formed a municipal court, as in the cities of Holland.

When the long-continued animosities between the English and Dutch settlers in America had subsided, and the land of the Pilgrims had become the home of intolerance, the New Englanders flocked to Manhattan. Lands were granted to the new comers, who intermarried with the Dutch, and soon acquired influence.

Early in the administration of Stuyvesant the old harberg, or tavern, was con

verted into a stadt-huys. There travelers to and from New England had been accustomed to rest. There being no money in the treasury, the magistrates received no pay, but enjoyed many week-day privileges, and on the Sabbath sat upon state cushions, while listening to long sermons upon the doctrine of predestination and the perseverance of the saints. For many years the burgomasters held their sessions in this quaint old stadt-huys, where the doughty Kieft had smoked long pipes, and entertained with long stories his oleaginous companions.

Stuyvesant conquered the Swedes, but New Amsterdam in turn came into the possession of others. In 1669 King Charles granted the whole territory of New Netherland to the Duke of York and Albany, and the same year Nicolls was sent out with four ships and four hundred and fifty men to take possession of the colony. The Dutch were obliged to surrender, although Stuyvesant, the last of the patroon governors, declared that "he would much rather be carried out dead" than submit to so great a humiliation. New Amsterdam then contained fifteen hundred inhabitants, furnishing a striking contrast to that magnificent city which will soon contain over a million souls. The majority of the Dutch settlers remained, passing their lives in happy domesticity, living in quaint houses on curious old streets, and trafficking in quaint groceries of which we have given an idea in our illustrations, and which would this day be veritable curiosities on the Island of Manhattan. In 1763 the city was retaken by the Dutch, to be ceded the following year to the English, in whose possession it remained until the close of the Revolutionary war.

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A HUMMING-BIRD met a butterfly, and, being pleased with the beauty of its person and glory of its wings, made an offer of perpetual friendship. "I cannot think of it," was the reply, as you once spurned me, and called me a drawling dolt." "Impossible," exclaimed the humming-bird; "I always entertained the highest respect for such beautiful creatures as you." "Perhaps you do now," said the other, "but when you insulted me I was a caterpillar. So let me give you a piece of advice: Never insult the humble, as they may some day become your superiors."

A LAY OF LUCKNOW.

ASLEEP!-amid the awful thunder
That speaks of coming doom,
While swarming hosts of fiendish foes
Round Lucknow's fortress loom.
Worn out by toil and suffering,
Death closing darkly round,
The daughters of the island-race
Lay on the hard, cold ground.

The Englishwoman's troubled rest
Is broken fitfully;

But hush'd in motionless repose,
The head upon her knee,

A Scottish woman pillow'd there,
Dreams of the far-off home,
Where her old father from the plow
At eventide will come.

What sudden sound 'mid that wild roar
The charmed vision breaks,
As, springing from her kindly couch,
The Highland woman wakes?
The Scottish ear-the Scottish heart,
'Mid that stern din of war,
Hears the shrill Highland bagpipe speak-
The slogan sound afar!

"We're saved! I hear Macgregor's peal,
Ay foremost in the fray:

O, Highland hearts and hands are true;
We're saved this blessed day!"
She stands amid the hero band
Who wage the hopeless strife,
The harbinger of coming aid,
Of rescued love and life.

They listen! But that distant sound

Reaches no Saxon ear;
For them no Highland pibroch tells
That Scotland's aid is near:
Again the voice of war sends forth
Defiance stern and high;
Despairing, though undaunted still,
Are England's chivalry.

Once more that cry: "The Campbells come!
We're saved!" They pause again.

O blessed Heaven! she speaketh sooth!
They hear the bagpipe's strain.
High 'mid the roar of deadly strife

The Highland music swells;

And of the God-sent aid at hand,
The mountain slogan tells.

Down, as one man, the leaguer'd force
Fall lowly on their knees,

And tears, and prayers, and bursting sighs
Float on the eastern breeze.
Full, fuller, swells the changing strain,
Borne through the rending line
Of conquer'd foes-they hear it now!
The sound of "Auld Lang Syne."

O blessed be His holy name
Who, in our direst need,
Can thus, through swarthy myriads,
Our faithful comrades lead.

Yet even with the memory

Of mercy all divine,

Will come a ling'ring echo, too,

Of Scotland's" Auld Lang Syne." VOL. XII.-33

THE WELSH PULPIT.

HE Welsh are a people among whom

of the working classes is a theme never discussed in Wales. In that country" the masses" are under the power of the Gospel: "Bethel," "Capel Sion," "Bethesda," and "Ebenezer," are always thronged. The most ignorant on the affairs of this life at least feel some interest in questions pertaining to another. In the busiest day of the week the smith leaves his anvil, the grocer his shop, the shoemaker his last, the farmer his field, to hear the stranger-preacher, whose name, though he heard it on the Sunday, he may have quite forgotten. Follow them to their respective employments, listen to their conversation, their shrewd remark, their warm discussion, and deduct, object, detract, philosophize as you may, the impression still clings, that the pulpit is there a power.

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On the still Sabbath morning, station yourself by that "lonely house of God." The chapel-house is the only habitation near; you see no other human residence. Can a congregation ever be assembled there? Can the place ever be filled? It is about ten. The worshipers come, and still they come ;" through silent glen, over mountain-top, through pass and defile, along stony lane or scarce visible footpath, on horse or on foot, in small groups or one by one; all pointing their way to that small, gray, low-roofed house, surrounded by that (O how quiet!) restingplace for their dead. They all confess to some mysterious power of attraction there. It is past the time; the place is now filled; the dirge-like but soothing sound of praise, in fine harmony with the scene around, now ascends. Wait a while; the text is read; the discourse begins; and you soon see that gray-coated shepherd, red-plaided matron, burly farmer, giddy youth, and sober age, alike confess, by look and attitude, that there is power in the word preached.

And the associations, those great annual gatherings, the "May meetings" of Wales, who can describe them? Everything about them proclaims the presence of a power. A truce is given to denominational differences: the Methodist is less a conference man; the Baptist less baptistical; the Churchman less lofty. Hospitality, boundless and indiscriminate, is