[Speech of Frank R. Lawrence at the fourth annual dinner given by the
Poughkeepsie District Members of the Holland Society of New York,
October 3, 1893. The banquet was held in commemoration of the relief
of the Siege of Leyden, 1574. J. William Beekman, the President of the
Holland Society, said: "Gentlemen, we will now proceed to the next
regular toast. It is of interest to all: 'New York, the child of New
Amsterdam--Just as the twig is bent the tree's inclined.' I call upon
Mr. Frank R. Lawrence, President of the Lotos Club, to respond to that
toast."]
GENTLEMEN OF THE HOLLAND SOCIETY:--Under any circumstances it
would be difficult to follow the distinguished master of the art [Horace
Porter] who has just taken his seat, but when to his glowing words is
added the diffidence inspired by this illustrious company, the
difficulty of the succeeding speaker is great indeed.
Mr. President, I am like the needy knife-grinder, when asked for his
tale: "Story--God bless you, I have none to tell, sir,"--and must beg
you to accept from me a few disjointed sentences instead of a more
formal speech. Indeed, it is not entirely clear to me which side of the
question suggested by the text I am to take; I do not entirely know
whether I am expected to prove the truth or to expose the falsehood of
the old proverb which adorns your menu, and it is commonly the case with
sayings that are supposed to represent the wisdom of the ages, that the
one may as readily be established as the other. It might be suggested by
one of sceptical mind that the saying that "as the twig is bent the
tree's inclined," may not be literally true as applied to this company
and this occasion; on the contrary, might it not be true that if your
early Dutch ancestors could come back and gaze for a moment upon this
sumptuous banquet and these gorgeous surroundings, their first impulse,
in accordance with the frugal simplicity of their lives and their
habits, would be to repudiate it, and repudiate their descendants, with
reprehension and with horror? [Laughter.] And would they not straightway
proceed, had they the power, to enact such sumptuary laws as should
confine you all henceforth and for evermore, to the same simple fare
upon which they and their children throve a couple of centuries ago?
Yet, Mr. President, by whatever strange process of evolution the simple
festivities of the first settlers upon this island may have grown into
an occasion so distinguished as this, I conceive that, after all, the
adage which you quote is well applied and has a serious meaning; for
despite the lapse of time and the introduction of new races of men, New
York is the child of Nieuw Amsterdam--and how the child has outgrown the
parent!
I believe it to be true, sir, that New York to-day bears more traces of
the less than fifty years of Dutch government than of the more than one
hundred years of British rule which followed. New York is, indeed,
erected upon the foundation of Nieuw Amsterdam; yet how impossible to
compare the New York of to-day with the original settlement established
by your forefathers. As well might we compare the great gathering of the
navies of the world which occurred in the Hudson River a year ago with
the first expedition sent hither by their High Mightinesses the
States-General two hundred and fifty years before. New York to-day,
grown up from the Nieuw Amsterdam of a former generation, is a great
emporium and a mighty city. To appreciate the greatness and the
swiftness of its growth, we must recall that since this century began
its population has increased more than twenty-fold. When this city and
its vicinity shall once more have doubled their inhabitants, the result
will be the formation of almost the largest mass of people congregated
upon the globe. [Applause.]
Contemplating these marvellous changes, past and to come, our
reflections are not all pleasant. Often do we regret with Washington
living the passing away of the Arcadian simplicity which once prevailed
upon this island. Often do we recall his plaintive words, applied to
this very community: "Let no man congratulate himself when he beholds
the child of his bosom or the city of his birth increasing in magnitude
and importance." Yet mournful reflections over the passing away of
childhood's days have small place in the ceaseless activity of modern
life. New York can no more again become the happy village whose
departure Irving laments, than the river which nears the ocean can turn
back and again become a tiny stream. Like a man approaching his prime,
it must go forward to its destiny--and what a destiny seems to await our
city! As the nineteenth century--greatest of periods known to man--draws
to a close, and opens the way for its successor which we expect will be
rich with broader and greater and higher achievements still than the
century of our birth, what a future seems to await our city of New York!
Is it not manifest destiny that old Nieuw Amsterdam, the present New
York, should become a greater city than any on the earth to-day? And it
seems to me, sir, that it is in a very large measure, indeed, to the
rugged industry--to the sturdy honesty--to the indomitable will of your
Dutch ancestors,--to the spirit which animated William the Silent, to
the spirit and the qualities which sustained the early Dutch settlers
upon this island, Wouter Van Twiller and Peter Stuyvesant and the men of
their generation, that we and our children must look, to maintain civic
virtue, to foster commercial enterprise, and to make the city of New
York in the twentieth century the metropolis of the civilized world.
[Applause.]