American watchman. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1814-1822, 1822-03-08
From Me .lzlssisippt Rebo6lcan.


Franklin, Franklin county. HANS HosMAs, a vene
rable Dutchman of the old school of tina. method
cal and straight forward nation. Hans as he wa
familiarly called by every white headed urchin Q
The neighborhood, was genius Of no ordinary chs
racter, particularly for Dutchman. The milk {
human kindness was contained in his compositio
an no small proportion; and very few circumstan
ces could call forth other feelings in his heart tina
those of the most extensive philanthropy. Han
was poet withal and though he could not write
and barely possessed sufficient literature to enabl
him to read. The yet found resource in retentiv
memory, ~ hich enabled him to preserve for hi
edlhcation, the muse. He often complained tina
the roughness OF the English language, which h
said was ill adapted to high poetica compositions
narrowed the sphere Of his usefulness and controul
cd, in degree, his efforts to cultivate and civiliz
she natives of the country He, however, was no
thing daunted by this difficulty but made astonish
ing efforts to overcome it, confessing THAT his com
p,ete want of success might possibly be attributes
to his slight acquaintance with the grammatical con
s.ruction of this, or indeed any other language -
Hans was fond of his bottle and adored his pipe -
He was wont to say that if any thing could over.
come the rigldness of our tongue, il was the com
Portable inspiration Of the Indian weed, beg, M
Editor, you will not for moment suppose that thi
was the name he gave 10 that delightful stimulant
On the contrary, he ever stoutly maintained tina
she appropriation of the nativity of this plant by
eountrymen to their own soil, was a striking cvi
dence OF that oyerweening vanity which was the
characteristic foibe, and which all good Duchmer
were bound tc oppose TO their last Whit. He man
fully asserted the right of Holland TO the glory o
having given it birth, and uniformly nstanced il
as one of the many benefits which Europe and es-
pecally Fader Land, had conferred on this western
world.
One Of his most favored compositions was il
praise OF this his prime favorite, and luckily fol
mankind il has been immortalized having been
committed to paper by an ingenious schoolmastei
of the neighborhood, who had learned to write
After his"6eath it was found in small box con.
tanning his entire library, consisting of Dutch
bible and an almanack printed in 1897, the. year
he left Pennsylvania, where he was born, and So
]ournrd in this barbarous land; an event which, he
contended, eyinced little less hardihood Of charac-
ter. than of yore, distinguished his ancestors in
their pilgrimage to the banks of the Hudson. II
was neatly folded in the aforesaid almanac, book
which the good man always deemed one OF his most
especial treasures; but which, by the force Of
thumblng, is now nearly lost to the world. He
regularly resorted to it TO learn the day Of the
month, the changes Of the moon, her rising and
getting, as also the rising and setting Of the sun /;
but it was more especially his oracle Oh the subject
OF the weather and it was his constant practice to
consult 1t before undertaking any affair Of great
importance, such as paying visit to a neighbor,
planting or cutting his tobacco and other transac
tons of equal weight in his uniform life IT'S true
the aforesaid planets oftentimes most capricously
flew in the face of his oracle, manifesy setting at
defiance its representations but this never once
staggered his faith in its complete authenticity
He used to say, that their strange conduct
must be attributed to their new tangled notions ex-
listing in this latter world on various subjects par
tcularly the sovereign contempt for three pair of
breaches, which his neighbors never affected to
conceal, and their obstinate adheranceto modes of
cultlvatng the earth, which, as they did net agree
to his own he heartily detested. With regard to
the weather too, he was frequently loss TO &C..
count for the burning sun under which he suffered
when he was to "look out for severe storm Of
snow, and cold frosty wheather, about these days"
If any thing called him from home when such
fearful words as these had been anxiously spelled
out by him opposite to the day eft the month fixed
for hie journey, he was to add to his habila-
ments all the brceches Goals and great coats which
his ample wardrobe contained-and, while labor
ing under their weight, has been heard to declare
that shows and yrosts nifty tiHerent dings in
him's gundrec" He persevered, however, in wear
ing the additional garments, and always congratu.
lated himself his arrival at his own comfortable
mansion, that he had suffered much less with cold,
than he could have expected. But it is time to
ward your patience by closing this article with the
metricai chef d'euvre Of the good mans, before
mentioned, which is copied ver5afinl ct Hteratin,
from the manuscript of the aforesaid erudte school
master;
Inns ON ToBAKRR.
o tobaker is VERY bret,y vede,
Unit gros in Ferginny, Caneduck and Denasee also
Unit in meny uder large douns dat hav zede,
Unit is the very 6rse of gumferts vur al mems Ino
Sum vellurs ven tabaker dey Wrist hekn vur du dak
At Wrist dey are very sic and make ugle Iasies,
But always lufd it peter ais gaik,
Ur eny ding dat vun can git in dis here doun,
The last verse l consider as much superior Il
the rest, and exhibits considerable improvement il
HanS' command of Dnr,tlaoa he az