to his relations at as well as to certain of our most substantial dutch citizens he expired in the arms of his friend the his remains were according to his own request in st mark s churchyard close by the bones of his favourite hero peter and it is that the historical society have it in mind to erect a wooden ment to his memory in the green to t� e public to rescue from oblivion the memory of for incidents and to render a just tribute of renown to the many great and wonderful actions of our dutch native of the city of new york historical essay like the great father of history whose words i have just quoted i treat of times long past over which the twilight of uncertainty had already thrown its shadows and the night of forgetfulness was about to descend forever with great solicitude had i long beheld the early history of this venerable and ancient from our grasp trembling on the lips of narrative old age and day by day dropping into the tomb in a ht tie while thought i and those reverend who serve as the tottering monuments of good old times will be gathered to their fa s s xxiv preface children engrossed by the pleasures or insignificant transactions of the present age wiu neglect to treasure up the recollections of the past and posterity will search in vain for of the days of e the origin of our city will be buried in eternal oblivion and even the names and achievements of van william and peter be enveloped in doubt and fiction like those of and of king arthur and of determined therefore to if possible this threatened misfortune i set myself to work to gather together all the fragments of our infant history which still existed and like my where no written records could be found i have endeavoured to continue the chain of history by well traditions in this undertaking which has been the whole business of a long and life it is incredible the number of authors i have consulted and all but to little purpose strange as it may seem though such multitudes of excellent works have been written about this country there are none which give any full and account of the early history of new or of its dutch j have gained much e it d c preface xxv fr an elaborate manuscript written in exceeding pure and classic low dutch excepting a few errors in which was found in the of the family many legends letters and other documents have i likewise in my among the family and lumber of our respectable dutch citizens and i have gathered a host of well traditions from divers excellent old ladies of my acquaintance who requested that their names might not be mentioned nor must i neglect to acknowledge how greatly i have been assisted by that admirable and institution the new york historical society to which i here publicly return my sincere in the conduct of this work i have adopted no individual model but on the contrary have simply contented myself with and the of the most approved ancient like i have maintained the utmost and the to truth throughout my history i have enriched it after the manner of with various characters of ancient w n at full length and faithfully ed i have it with profound political speculations like it with the graces of sentiment like and into the whole the dignity the tn m of xxvi r i am aware that i shall the censure of numerous very learned and judicious critics for indulging too frequently in the bold manner of my favourite and to be candid i have found it impossible always to resist the of those pleasing which like banks and fragrant beset the dusty road of the historian and him to turn aside and refresh himself from his but i trust it will be found that i have always resumed my staff and addressed myself to my weary journey witli spirits so that both my readers and myself have been by the indeed though it has been my constant wish and uniform endeavour to rival himself in observing the requisite unity of history yet the loose and manner in which of the facts recorded have come to hand rendered such an attempt extremely difficult this difficulty was likewise increased by one of tlie grand objects contemplated in my work which was to trace the rise of sundry customs and institutions in this best of cities and to compare them when in tlie of infancy with what sky are in the present old age of knowledge and improvement but the chief merit on which i value myself and found my hopes for future regard is that faithful with which have this pr ace invaluable little work carefully away the of and the of fable which are too apt to spring u and choke the seeds of truth and wholesome knowledge � had i been anxious to the throng who like over the surface of literature or had i been anxious to commend my writings to the of literary i might have availed myself of the obscurity that the infant years of our city to introduce a thousand pleasing but i have discarded many a tale and marvellous adventure whereby the drowsy ear of summer might be jealousy maintaining that fidelity gravity and dignity wliich should ever distinguish the historian for a writer of this class an elegant critic must sustain the character of a wise man writing for the instruction of posterity one who has studied to inform himself well who has pondered his subject with care and addresses himself to our judgment rather than to our imagination thrice happy therefore is this our renowned city in having incidents worthy of swelling the of history and doubly thrice happy is it in having such an historian as myself 