Mr. Butlers Discourse. 155 



tory and progress of the colony, from its acquisition by the 

 English to the year 1732 ; and his supplementary volume, 

 recently published by the New- York historical society, brings 

 down the narrative to the year 1762. But neither the origi- 

 nal nor the posthumous work of Mr. Smith, is calculated to 

 satisfy the enlightened curiosity of the present age. The 

 Dutch records in the secretary's office, as has already been 

 remarked, commence with the year 1638 ; and as Mr. Smith 

 had no other means of information than such as were to be 

 found in the colony, he was compelled to pass over the period 

 prior to that date, in less than three pages ; and his notices of 

 the succeeding thirty years are not much more extended or 

 satisfactory. It is evident from his work, that he did not un- 

 derstand the language in which the ancient records were writ- 

 ten, and he was probably unwilling to incur the expense of 

 procuring translations. 



Smith's history, as published by himself, is dated in 1756, 

 but it closes with the commencement of Governor Cosby 's 

 administration in 1732. The author candidly informs us, that 

 " a very near relative had so great a concern in the public 

 controversies with Col. Cosby, that the history of those times 

 will be better received from a more disinterested pen." After 

 expressing his apprehension, that it would perhaps be difficult 

 for him to avoid the extremes of suppressing truth, on the one 

 hand, or exaggerating it on the other, he adds, as a further 

 reason for his silence, that " a writer who exposes the conduct 

 of the living, will inevitably meet with their fury and resent- 

 ment ;" and that " the prudent historian of his own times, 

 will always be a coward, and never give fire, till death pro - 

 tects him from the malice and stroke of his enemy."* As 

 might be anticipated from this annunciation, the posthumous 

 work of Mr. Smith is written in the spirit of a partisan, and 

 is therefore to be received with some degree of caution, if not 

 of distrust. It also treats, too exclusively, of the political 

 parties which existed in the province, and of the intrigues 

 and conflicts of their leaders, to become, at the present day, 

 a work of general or permanent interest. To William Smith, 

 however, the people of this state in particular, and the friends 



