TO THE PUBLIC.
"To rescue from oblivion the memory
of former incidents, and to render a just
tribute of renown to the many great and
wonderful transactions of our Dutch progenitors,
Diedrich Knickerbocker, a native
of the city of New York, produces
this historical essay."[1]
Like the great
Father of History, whose words I have
just quoted, I treat of times long past,
over which the twilight of uncertainty
had already thrown its shadows, and the
night of forgetfulness was about to descend
for ever. With great solicitude
had I long beheld the early history of
this venerable and ancient city gradually
slipping from our grasp, trembling on the
lips of narrative old age, and day by day
dropping piecemeal into the tomb. In a
little while, thought I, and those reverend
Dutch burghers, who serve as the tottering
monuments of good old times, will be
gathered to their fathers; their children,
engrossed by the empty pleasures or insignificant
transactions of the present
age, will neglect to treasure up the recollections
of the past, and posterity will
search in vain for memorials of the days
of the Patriarchs. The origin of our city
will be buried in eternal oblivion, and
even the names and achievements of
Wou
