The Dutchman's Fireside; A Tale - Softcover

Paulding, James Kirke

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0217076971 ISBN 13: 9780217076975

Publisher: General Books LLC, 2012

Synopsis

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1868. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER I. SCENES AND RURAL MANNERS. " Somewhere about the time of the old French war," there resided on the rich border that skirts the Hudson, not a hundred miles from the good city of Albany, a^family of some distinction, which we shall call /'Vancourp consisting of three brothers, whose namW-^er^ ^^^ftj" IlenHis, -aSd- -Ariel, or Auriel as it was pronounced .by the Dutch of that day. They were the sons of one of the earliest as well as most respectable of the emigrants from Holland, and honourably sustained the dignity of their ancestry, by sturdy integrity, liberal hospitality, and a generous public spirit. On the death of the patriarch, who departed this life almost a century old, according to the custom of those early times the estate was amicably divided among his three sons; the portion of the eldest being distinguished from that of the others only by comprising the mansion-house. This was the sole compliment paid to the right of primogeniture, which in almost every other Christian country swallows up the inheritance of the younger offspring, and enables one man to wallow in overgrown luxury, at the expense of all the rest of his blood and name. It was rather a voluntary acknowledgment than a concession claimed. At this early period it was not the general custom in the State for people that had children to make their wills; and, however singular it may seem, there were fewer lawsuits concerning the division of property among heirs, than there are now, when such particular care is taken in the devising of estates, that it generally takes three or four courts, six or eight lawyers, and the like number of years, to interpret the oracle. And how can it be otherwise ? -- since I once heard a great pleader affirm, that there never were three words put togethe...

About this edition

• Publisher: General Books LLC
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0217076971
• ISBN 13: 9780217076975
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 94