196 WINTER SKETCHES. 



haps not in all respects just now ; but a 

 change is coming. Still, will anybody tell us 

 why a colony of Dutchmen, who are not am- 

 bitious for luxuries they have not at home, 

 and who would have a better market for their 

 products than they have there, could not 

 thrive under these conditions? 



I do not think that the higher altitudes they 

 sought in their settlement here, improved the 

 temper of the colonists. From all accounts 

 they became very quarrelsome in theology and 

 politics. When the Revolutionary war came, 

 neighbor was pitted against neighbor even 

 more ferociously than were their countrymen 

 on the banks of the Hudson. But they were 

 always a hard-working economical set of 

 people. They made home industries pay. 

 Everything they consumed, with the sole ex- 

 ception of the indispensable gin, was produced 

 by themselves. Men, women and children 

 worked in the fields, and even the baby's 

 weight was utilized in churning butter. 



Their descendants to-day, among whom 

 their language and customs prevail more or 

 less, are not in the least intimidated by the 

 threats of Engineer Brotherhoods or Knights 

 of Labor to play havoc with all our means of 



