Great nations resemble great men in this particular, that their greatness
is seldom known until they get in trouble; adversity, therefore, has been
wisely denominated the ordeal of true greatness, which, like gold, can
never receive its real estimation until it has passed through the furnace.
In proportion, therefore, as a nation, a community, or an individual
(possessing the inherent quality of greatness) is involved in perils and
misfortunes, in proportion does it rise in grandeur; and even when sinking
under calamity, makes, like a house on fire, a more glorious display than
ever it did in the fairest period of its prosperity.
The vast Empire of China, though teeming with population and imbibing and
concentrating the wealth of nations, has vegetated through a succession of
drowsy ages; and were it not for its internal revolution, and the
subversion of its ancient government by the Tartars, might have presented
nothing but a dull detail of monotonous prosperity. Pompeii and
Herculaneum might have passed into oblivion, with a herd of their
contemporaries, had they not been fortunately overwhelmed by a volcano.
The renowned city of Troy acquired celebrity only from its ten years'
distress and final conflagration. Paris rose in importance by the plots
and massacres which ended in the exaltation of Napoleon; and even the
mighty London has skulked through the records of time, celebrated for
nothing of moment excepting the Plague, the Great Fire, and Guy Faux's
Gunpowder Plot! Thus cities and empires creep along, enlarging in silent
obscurity, until they burst forth in some tremendous calamity, and snatch,
as it were, immortality from the explosion.
The above principle being admitted, my reader will plainly perceive that
the city of New Amsterdam and its dependent province are on the high road
to greatness. Dangers and hostilities threaten from every side, and it is
really a matter of astonishment how so small a State has been able in so
short a time to entangle itself in so many difficulties. Ever since the
province was first taken by the nose, at the Fort of Good Hope, in the
tranquil days of Wouter Van Twiller, has it been gradually increasing in
historic importance: and never could it have had a more appropriate
chieftain to conduct it to the pinnacle of grandeur than Peter Stuyvesant.
This truly headstrong hero having successfully effected his daring
progress through the east country, girded up his loins as he approached
Boston, and prepared for the grand onslaught with the Amphictyons, which
was to be the crowning achievement of the campaign. Throwing Antony Van
Corlear, who, with his calico mare, formed his escort and army, a little
in the advance, and bidding him be of stout heart and great mind, he
placed himself firmly in his saddle, cocked his hat more fiercely over his
left eye, summoned all the heroism of his soul into his countenance, and,
with one arm akimbo, the hand resting on the pommel of his sword, rode
into the great metropolis of the league, Antony sounding his trumpet
before him in a manner to electrify the whole community.
Never was there such a stir in Boston as on this occasion; never such a
hurrying hither and thither about the streets; such popping of heads out
of windows; such gathering of knots in market-places Peter Stuyvesant was
a straightforward man, and prone to do everything above board. He would
have ridden at once to the great council-house of the league and sounded a
parley; but the grand council knew the mettlesome hero they had to deal
with, and were not for doing things in a hurry. On the contrary, they sent
forth deputations to meet him on the way, to receive him in a style
befitting the great potentate of the Manhattoes, and to multiply all
kinds of honors, and ceremonies, and formalities, and other courteous
impediments in his path. Solemn banquets were accordingly given him, equal
to thanksgiving feasts. Complimentary speeches were made him, wherein he
was entertained with the surpassing virtues, long sufferings, and
achievements of the Pilgrim Fathers; and it is even said he was treated to
a sight of Plymouth Rock, that great corner-stone of Yankee empire.
I will not detain my readers by recounting the endless devices by which
time was wasted, and obstacles and delays multiplied to the infinite
annoyance of the impatient Peter. Neither will I fatigue them by dwelling
on his negotiations with the grand council, when he at length brought them
to business. Suffice it to say, it was like most other diplomatic
negotiations; a great deal was said and very little done; one conversation
led to another; one conference begot misunderstandings which it took a
dozen conferences to explain, at the end of which both parties found
themselves just where they had begun, but ten times less likely to come to
an agreement.
In the midst of these perplexities, which bewildered the brain and
incensed the ire of honest Peter, he received private intelligence of the
dark conspiracy matured in the British Cabinet, with the astounding fact
that a British squadron was already on the way to invade New Amsterdam by
sea, and that the grand council of Amphictyons, while thus beguiling him
with subtleties, were actually prepared to co-operate by land!
Oh! how did the sturdy old warrior rage and roar when he found himself
thus entrapped, like a lion in the hunter's toil! Now did he draw his
trusty sword, and determine to break in upon the council of the
Amphictyons, and put every mother's son of them to death. Now did he
resolve to fight his way throughout all the regions of the east, and to
lay waste Connecticut river.
Gallant, but unfortunate Peter! Did I not enter with sad forebodings on
this ill-starred expedition? Did I not tremble when I saw thee, with no
other councillor than thine own head; no other armour but an honest
tongue, a spotless conscience, and a rusty sword; no other protector but
St. Nicholas, and no other attendant but a trumpeter--did I not tremble
when I beheld thee thus sally forth to contend with all the knowing powers
of New England?
It was a long time before the kind-hearted expostulations of Antony Van
Corlear, aided by the soothing melody of his trumpet, could lower the
spirits of Peter Stuyvesant from their warlike and vindictive tone, and
prevent his making widows and orphans of half the population of Boston.
With great difficulty he was prevailed upon to bottle up his wrath for the
present; to conceal from the council his knowledge of their machinations;
and by effecting his escape, to be able to arrive in time for the
salvation of the Manhattoes.
The latter suggestion awakened a new ray of hope in his bosom; he
forthwith dispatched a secret message to his councillors at New Amsterdam,
apprising them of their danger, and commanding them to put the city in a
posture of defense, promising to come as soon as possible to their
assistance. This done, he felt marvelously relieved, rose slowly, shook
himself like a rhinoceros, and issued forth from his den, in much the same
manner as Giant Despair is described to have issued from Doubting Castle,
in the chivalric history of the Pilgrim's Progress.
And now much does it grieve me that I must leave the gallant Peter in this
imminent jeopardy; but it behooves us to hurry back and see what is going
on at New Amsterdam, for greatly do I fear that city is already in a
turmoil. Such was ever the fate of Peter Stuyvesant; while doing one thing
with heart and soul he was too apt to leave everything else at sixes and
sevens. While, like a potentate of yore, he was absent attending to those
things in person which in modern days are trusted to generals and
ambassadors, his little territory at home was sure to get in an
uproar--all which was owing to that uncommon strength of intellect which
induced him to trust to nobody but himself, and which had acquired him the
renowned appellation of Peter the Headstrong.