The life in Albany was to me as if I had become a citizen of some new world. I had seen the old burgh once or twice before, fleetingly1 and with but a stranger's eyes; now it was my home. As I think upon it at this distance, it seems as if I grew accustomed to the novel environment almost at the outset. At least, I did not pine overmuch for the Valley I had left behind.
For one thing, there was plenty of hard work to keep my mind from moping. I had entirely2 to create both my position and my business. This latter was, in some regards, as broad as the continent; in others it was pitifully circumscribed3 and narrow. It is hard for us now, with our eager national passion for opening up the wilderness4 and peopling waste places, to realize that the great trading companies of Colonial days had exactly the contrary desire. It was the chief anxiety of the fur companies to prevent immigration--to preserve the forests in as savage5 a state as possible. One can see now that it was a fatal error in England's policy to encourage these vast conservators of barbarism, instead of wholesome6 settlement by families--a policy which was avowedly7 adopted because it was easier to sell monopolies to a few companies than to collect taxes from scattered8 communities. I do not know that I thought much upon this then, however. I was too busy in fitting myself to Albany.
Others who saw the city in these primitive9 Dutch days have found much in it and its inhabitants to revile10 and scoff11 at. To my mind it was a most delightful12 place. Its Yankee critics assail13 a host of features which were to me sources of great satisfaction--doubtless because they and I were equally Dutch. I loved its narrow-gabled houses, with their yellow pressed brick, and iron girders, and high, hospitable14 stoops, and projecting water-spouts--which all spoke15 to me of the dear, brave, good old Holland I had never seen. It is true that these eaves-troughs, which in the Netherlands discharged the rainfall into the canal in front of the houses, here poured their contents upon the middle of the sidewalks, and New England carpers have made much of this. But to me there was always a pretty pathos16 in this resolution to reproduce, here in the wilderness, the conditions of the dear old home, even if one got drenched17 for it.
And Albany was then almost as much in the wilderness as Caughnawaga. There were a full score of good oil-lamps set up in the streets; some Scotchmen had established a newspaper the year before, which print was to be had weekly; the city had had its dramatic baptism, too, and people still told of the theatrical18 band who had come and performed for a month at the hospital, and of the fierce sermon against them which Dominie Freylinghuysen had preached three years before. Albany now is a great town, having over ten thousand souls within its boundaries; then its population was less than one-third of that number. But the three or four hundred houses of the city were spread over such an area of ground, and were so surrounded by trim gardens and embowered in trees, that the effect was that of a vastly larger place. Upon its borders, one stepped off the grassy19 street into the wild country-road or wilder forest-trail. The wilderness stretched its dark shadows to our very thresholds. It is thought worthy20 of note now by travellers that one can hear, from the steps of our new State House, the drumming of partridges in the woods beyond. Then we could hear, in addition, the barking of wolves skulking21 down from the Helderbergs, and on occasion the scream of a panther.
Yet here there was a feeling of perfect security and peace. The days when men bore their guns to church were now but a memory among the elders. The only Indians we saw were those who came in, under strict espionage22, to barter23 their furs for merchandise and drink--principally drink--and occasional delegations24 of chiefs who came here to meet the governor or his representatives--these latter journeying up from New York for the purpose. For the rest, a goodly and profitable traffic went sedately25 and comfortably forward. We sent ships to Europe and the West Indies, and even to the slave-yielding coast of Guinea. In both the whaling and deep-sea fisheries we had our part. As for furs and leather and lumber26, no other town in the colonies compared with Albany. We did this business in our own way, to be sure, without bustle27 or boasting, and so were accounted slow by our noisier neighbors to the east and south.
There were numerous holidays in this honest, happy old time, although the firing of guns on New Year's was rather churlishly forbidden by the Assembly the year after my arrival. It gives me no pleasure now, in my old age, to see Pinkster forgotten, and Vrouwen-dagh and Easter pass unnoticed, under the growing sway of the New England invaders28, who know how neither to rest nor to play.
But my chief enjoyment29 lay, I think, in the people I came to know. Up in the Valley, if exception were made of four or five families already sketched30 in this tale, there were no associates for me who knew aught of books or polite matters in general. Of late, indeed, I had felt myself almost wholly alone, since my few educated companions or acquaintances were on the Tory side of the widening division, and I, much as I was repelled31 by their politics, could find small intellectual equivalent for them among the Dutch and German Whigs whose cause and political sympathies were mine. But here in Albany I could hate the English and denounce their rule and rulers in excellent and profitable company. I was fortunate enough at the outset to produce a favorable impression upon Abraham Ten Broeck, the uncle and guardian32 of the boy-Patroon, and in some respects the foremost citizen of the town. Through him I speedily became acquainted with others not less worthy of friendship--Colonel Philip Schuyler, whom I had seen before and spoken with in the Valley once or twice, but now came upon terms of intimacy33 with; John Tayler and Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, younger men, and trusted friends of his; Peter Gansevoort, who was of my own age, and whom I grew to love like a brother--and so on, through a long list.
These and their associates were educated and refined gentlemen, not inferior in any way to the Johnsons and Butlers I had left behind me, or to the De Lanceys, Phillipses, Wattses, and other Tory gentry34 whom I had seen. If they did not drink as deep, they read a good deal more, and were masters of as courteous35 and distinguished36 a manner. Heretofore I had suffered not a little from the notion--enforced upon me by all my surroundings--that gentility and good-breeding went hand in hand with loyalty37 to everything England did, and that disaffection was but another name for vulgarity and ignorance. Despite this notion, I had still chosen disaffection, but I cannot say that I was altogether pleased with the ostracism38 from congenial companionship which this seemed to involve. Hence the charm of my discovery in Albany that the best and wisest of its citizens, the natural leaders of its social, commercial, and political life, were of my way of thinking.
More than this, I soon came to realize that this question for and against England was a deeper and graver matter than I had dreamed it to be. Up in our slow, pastoral, uninformed Valley the division was of recent growth, and, as I have tried to show, was even now more an affair of race and social affiliations39 than of politics. The trial of Zenger, the Stamp Act crisis, the Boston Massacre--all the great events which were so bitterly discussed in the outer Colonial world--had created scarcely a ripple40 in our isolated41 chain of frontier settlements. We rustics42 had been conscious of disturbances43 and changes in the atmosphere, so to speak, but had lacked the skill and information--perhaps the interest as well--to interpret these signs of impending44 storm aright. Here in Albany I suddenly found myself among able and prudent45 men who had as distinct ideas of the evils of English control, and as deep-seated a resolution to put an end to it, as our common ancestors had held in Holland toward the detested46 Spaniards. Need I say that I drank in all this with enthusiastic relish47, and became the most ardent48 of Whigs?
Of my business it is not needful to speak at length. Once established, there was nothing specially49 laborious50 or notable about it. The whole current of the company's traffic to and fro passed under my eye. There were many separate accounts to keep, and a small army of agents to govern, to supply, to pay, and to restrain from fraud--for which they had a considerable talent, and even more inclination52. There were cargoes53 of provisions and merchandise to receive from our company's vessels54 at Albany, and prepare for transportation across country to the West; and there were return-cargoes of peltries and other products to be shipped hence to England. Of all this I had charge and oversight55, but with no obligation upon me to do more of the labor51 than was fit, or to spare expense in securing a proper performance of the residue56 by others.
Mr. Jonathan Cross and his lady came down to Albany shortly after I had entered upon my duties there, and made a stay of some days. He was as kind and thoughtful as ever, approving much that I had done, suggesting alterations57 and amendments58 here and there, but for the most part talking of me and my prospects59. He had little to say about the people at the Cedars60, or about the young master of Cairncross, which was now approaching completion, and I had small heart to ask him for more than he volunteered. Both Mr. Stewart and Daisy had charged him with affectionate messages for me, and that was some consolation61; but I was still sore enough over the collapse62 of my hopes, and still held enough wrath63 in my heart against Philip, to make me wish to recall neither more often than could be helped. The truth is, I think that I was already becoming reconciled to my disappointment and to my change of life, and was secretly ashamed of myself for it, and so liked best to keep my thoughts and talk upon other things.
Lady Berenicia I saw but once, and that was once too often. It pleased her ladyship to pretend to recall me with difficulty, and, after she had established my poor identity in her mind, to treat me with great coolness. I am charitable enough to hope that this gratified her more than it vexed64 me, which was not at all.
The ill-assorted twain finally left Albany, taking passage on one of the company's ships. Mr. Cross's last words to me were: "Do as much business, push trade as sharply, as you can. There is no telling how long English charters, or the King's writ65 for that matter, will continue to run over here."
So they set sail, and I never saw either of them again.
It was a source of much satisfaction and gain to me that my position held me far above the bartering66 and dickering of the small traders. It is true that I went through the form of purchasing a license67 to trade in the city, for which I paid four pounds sterling--a restriction68 which has always seemed to me as unintelligent as it was harmful to the interests of the town--but it was purely69 a form. We neither bought nor sold in Albany. This made it the easier for me to meet good people on equal terms--not that I am silly enough to hold trade in disrespect, but because the merchants who came in direct contact with the Indians and trappers suffered in estimation from the cloud of evil repute which hung over their business.
I lived quietly, and without ostentation70, putting aside some money each quarter, and adventuring my savings71 to considerable profit in the company's business--a matter which Mr. Cross had arranged for me. I went to many of the best houses of the Whig sort. In some ways, perhaps, my progress in knowledge and familiarity with worldly things were purchased at the expense of an innocence72 which might better have been retained. But that is the manner of all flesh, and I was no worse, I like to hope, than the best-behaved of my fellows. I certainly laughed more now in a year than I had done in all my life before; in truth, I may be said to have learned to laugh here in Albany, for there were merry wights among my companions. One in particular should be spoken of--a second-cousin of mine, named Teunis Van Hoorn, a young physician who had studied at Leyden, and who made jests which were often worthy to be written down.
So two years went by. I had grown somewhat in flesh, being now decently rounded out and solid. Many of my timid and morose73 ways had been dropped meantime. I could talk now to ladies and to my elders without feeling tongue-tied at my youthful presumption74. I was a man of affairs, twenty-five years of age, with some money of my own, an excellent position, and as good a circle of friends as fortune ever gave to mortal man.
Once each month Mr. Stewart and I exchanged letters. Through this correspondence I was informed, in the winter following my departure, of the marriage of Daisy and Philip Cross.
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1
fleetingly
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| adv.飞快地，疾驰地 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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circumscribed
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| adj.[医]局限的：受限制或限于有限空间的v.在…周围划线( circumscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；划定…范围；限制；限定 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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avowedly
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| adv.公然地 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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revile
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| v.辱骂，谩骂 | |
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scoff
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| n.嘲笑，笑柄，愚弄；v.嘲笑，嘲弄，愚弄，狼吞虎咽 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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assail
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| v.猛烈攻击，抨击，痛斥 | |
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hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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pathos
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| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
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drenched
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| adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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skulking
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| v.潜伏，偷偷摸摸地走动，鬼鬼祟祟地活动( skulk的现在分词 ) | |
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espionage
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| n.间谍行为，谍报活动 | |
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barter
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| n.物物交换，以货易货，实物交易 | |
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delegations
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| n.代表团( delegation的名词复数 )；委托，委派 | |
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sedately
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| adv.镇静地，安详地 | |
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lumber
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| n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动 | |
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bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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invaders
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| 入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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sketched
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| v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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repelled
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| v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
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guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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gentry
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| n.绅士阶级，上层阶级 | |
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courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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ostracism
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| n.放逐；排斥 | |
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affiliations
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| n.联系( affiliation的名词复数 )；附属机构；亲和性；接纳 | |
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ripple
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| n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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rustics
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| n.有农村或村民特色的( rustic的名词复数 )；粗野的；不雅的；用粗糙的木材或树枝制作的 | |
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disturbances
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| n.骚乱( disturbance的名词复数 )；打扰；困扰；障碍 | |
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impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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48
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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49
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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50
laborious
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| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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53
cargoes
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| n.（船或飞机装载的）货物( cargo的名词复数 )；大量，重负 | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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55
oversight
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| n.勘漏，失察，疏忽 | |
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residue
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| n.残余，剩余，残渣 | |
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alterations
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| n.改动( alteration的名词复数 )；更改；变化；改变 | |
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amendments
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| （法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案 | |
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prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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cedars
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| 雪松，西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 ) | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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collapse
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| vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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writ
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| n.命令状，书面命令 | |
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bartering
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| v.作物物交换，以货换货( barter的现在分词 ) | |
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license
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| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
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restriction
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| n.限制，约束 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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ostentation
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| n.夸耀，卖弄 | |
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savings
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| n.存款，储蓄 | |
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innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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morose
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| adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的 | |
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presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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