Knickerbocker's History of New York, Complete eBook
Washington Irving
In 1829 Washington Irving came again to England, this
time as Secretary to the American Legation. He
published the “Conquest of Granada.”
In 1831 he received the honorary degree of LL.D. from
the University of Oxford. Then he returned to
America, published in 1832 “The Alhambra;”
in 1835 “Legends of the Conquest of Spain.”
In 1842 he went again to Spain, this time as American
Minister. Other works were produced, and at the
close of his life he achieved his early ambition,
by writing a Life of Washington, after whom he had
been named, and who had laid his hand upon his head
and blessed him when he was a child of five.
Although the first of the five volumes of the Life
of Washington did not appear until he was more than
seventy years old, he lived to complete his work, and
died on the 28th of November, 1859. Washington
Irving never married. He had loved in his early
years a daughter of his friend Mrs. Hoffman, had sat
by her death-bed when she was a girl of seventeen,
and waited until his own death restored her to him.
H.M.
HISTORY OF NEW YORK
BOOK IV. (continued.)
CHAPTER VI.
Next to his projects for the suppression of poverty
may be classed those of William the Testy for increasing
the wealth of New Amsterdam. Solomon of whose
character for wisdom the little governor was somewhat
emulous, had made gold and silver as plenty as the
stones in the streets of Jerusalem. William Kieft
could not pretend to vie with him as to the precious
metals, but he determined, as an equivalent, to flood
the streets of New Amsterdam with Indian money.
This was nothing more nor less than strings of beads
wrought out of clams, periwinkles, and other shell-fish,
and called seawant or wampum. These had formed
a native currency among the simple savages, who were
content to take them of the Dutchmen in exchange for
peltries. In an unlucky moment, William the Testy,
seeing this money of easy production, conceived the
project of making it the current coin of the province.
It is true it had an intrinsic value among the Indians,
who used it to ornament their robes and moccasins;
but among the honest burghers it had no more intrinsic
value than those rags which form the paper currency
of modern days. This consideration, however, had
no weight with William Kieft. He began by paying
all the servants of the company and all the debts
of government, in strings of wampum. He sent emissaries
to sweep the shores of Long Island, which was the
Ophir of this modern Solomon, and abounded in shell-fish.
These were transported in loads to New Amsterdam,
coined into Indian money, and launched into circulation.
