lutions of this distracted planet. I
am even told that many among them do verily believe that Holland,
of which they have heard so much from tradition, is situated
somewhere on Long Island,--that _Spiking-devil_ and _the Narrows_
are the two ends of the world,--that the country is still under the
dominion of their High Mightinesses,--and that the city of New York
still goes by the name of Nieuw Amsterdam. They meet every Saturday
afternoon at the only tavern in the place, which bears as a sign a
square-headed likeness of the Prince of Orange, where they smoke a
silent pipe, by way of promoting social conviviality, and
invariably drink a mug of cider to the success of Admiral Van
Tromp, who they imagine is still sweeping the British channel with
a broom at his mast-head.

"Communipaw, in short, is one of the numerous little villages in
the vicinity of this most beautiful of cities, which are so many
strongholds and fastnesses, whither the primitive manners of our
Dutch forefathers have retreated, and where they are cherished with
devout and scrupulous strictness. The dress of the original
settlers is handed down inviolate, from father to son: the
identical broad-brimmed hat, broad-skirted coat, and broad-bottomed
breeches, continue from generation to generation; and several
gigantic knee-buckles of massy silver are still in wear, that made
gallant display in the days of the patriarchs of Communipaw. The
language likewise continues unadulterated by barbarous innovations;
and so critically correct is the village schoolmaster in his
dialect, that his reading of a Low-Dutch psalm has much the same
effect on the nerves as the filing of a handsaw."

[Footnote 1: Pavonia in the ancient maps, is given to a tract
of country extending from about Hoboken to Amboy.]

The early prosperity of this settlement is dwelt on with satisfaction by
the author:--

"The neighboring Indians in a short time became accustomed to the
uncouth sound of the Dutch language, and an intercourse gradually
took place between them and the new-comers. The Indians were much
given to long talks, and the Dutch to long silence;--in this
particular, therefore, they accommodated each other completely. The
chiefs would make long speeches about the big bull, the Wabash, and
the Great Spirit