Chapter 6

"Nay, be brief:
I see into thy end, and am almost
A man already."

_Cymbeline_.

As Dirck accompanied Miss Mordaunt to her father's house in Crown Street,
[10] I took an occasion to give Jason the slip, being in no humour to
listen to his lectures on the proprieties of life, and left the Pinkster
field as fast as I could. Notwithstanding the size and importance of New
York, a holiday like this could not fail to draw great crowds of persons
to witness the sports. In 1757, James de Lancey was at the head of the
government of the province, as indeed he had been, in effect, for much of
his life; and I remember to have met his chariot, carrying the younger
children of the family to the field, on my way into the town. As the day
advanced, carriages of one sort and another made their appearance in
Broadway, principally conveying the children of their different owners. All
these belonged to people of the first mark; and I saw the Ship that denotes
the arms of Livingston, the Lance, of the de Lanceys, the Burning Castle,
of the Morrises, and other armorial bearings that were well known in the
province. Carriages, certainly, were not as common in 1757 as they have
since become; but most of our distinguished people rode in their coaches,
chariots, or phaetons, or conveyances of some sort or other, when there was
occasion to go so far out of town as the Common, which is the site of the
present "Park." The roads on the island of Manhattan were very pretty and
picturesque, winding among rocks and through valleys, being lined with
groves and copses in a way to render all the drives rural and retired. Here
and there, one came to a country-house, the residence of some person of
importance, which, by its comfort and snugness, gave all the indications
of wealth and of a prudent taste. Mr. Speaker Nicoll had [11] occupied a
dwelling of this sort for a long series of years, that was about a league
from town, and which is still standing, as I pass it constantly in
travelling between Satanstoe and York. I never saw the Patentee myself, as
he died long before my birth; but his house near town still stands, as I
have said, a memorial of past ages!

The whole town seemed alive, and everybody had a desire to get a glance at
the sports of the Pinkster Field; though the more dignified and cultivated
had self-denial enough to keep aloof, since it would hardly have comported
with their years and stations to be seen in such a place. The war had
brought many regiments into the province, however, and I met at least
twenty young officers, strolling out to the scene of amusement, as I walked
into town. I will confess I gazed at these youths with admiration, and not
entirely without envy, as they passed me in