n Europe, with, of
course, such variations as were necessary from the new surroundings, new
climate, and new limitations. New York was settled by the Dutch, and
therefore naturally the first permanent houses were Dutch in shape, such
as may be seen in Holland to-day. In the large towns in New Netherland
the houses were certainly very pretty, as all visitors stated who wrote
accounts at that day. Madam Knights visited New York in 1704, and wrote
of the houses,--I will give her own words, in her own spelling and
grammar, which were not very good, though she was the teacher of
Benjamin Franklin, and the friend of Cotton Mather:--

"The Buildings are Brick Generaly very stately and high: the Bricks
in some of the houses are of divers Coullers, and laid in Checkers,
being glazed, look very agreable. The inside of the houses is neat
to admiration, the wooden work; for only the walls are plaster'd;
and the Sumers and Gist are planed and kept very white scour'd as
so is all the partitions if made of Bords."

The "sumers and gist" were the heavy timbers of the frame, the
summer-pieces and joists. The summer-piece was the large middle beam in
the middle from end to end of the ceiling; the joists were cross-beams.
These were not covered with plaster as nowadays, but showed in every
ceiling; and in old houses are sometimes set so curiously and fitted so
ingeniously, that they are always an entertaining study. Another
traveller says that New York houses had patterns of colored brick set in
the front, and also bore the date of building. The Governor's house at
Albany had two black brick-hearts. Dutch houses were set close to the
sidewalk with the gable-end to the street; and had the roof notched like
steps,--corbel-roof was the name; and these ends were often of brick,
while the rest of the walls were of wood. The roofs were high in
proportion to the side walls, and hence steep; they were surmounted
usually in Holland fashion with weather-vanes in the shape of horses,
lions, geese, sloops, or fish; a rooster was a favorite Dutch
weather-vane. There were metal gutters sticking out from every roof
almost to the middle of the street; this was most annoying to passers-by
in rainy weather, who were deluged with water from the roofs. The cellar
windows had small loop-holes with shutters. The windows were always
small; some had only sliding shutters, others had but two panes or
quarels of glass, as they were c