MARSCHALK MANOR. The old man treadeth wearily, But the old man prateth cheerily, CHAPTER FIRST, Showeth forth the Marschalk Manor, both Historically and Descriptive. Few who have ever seen any of the Dutch Manor-Houses which yet remain in the valley of the Hudson, can resist experiencing a sense of delight, and a heartfelt longing after the quiet, peaceful life, which seems afforded to its inhabitants. It is seldom that any of these old residences displays much architectural taste. The elegant refinements of carved buttresses and ornamental windows are generally wanting; proportion of parts is rarely strictly observed; even the adaptation of any particular authorized style is regarded as a matter of but little real consequence. Yet its timeworn walls and irregular construction impart a quaint and antiquated aspect, suggestive of comfortable security and open hospitality, more than an equivalent for any lack of the richest adornments of English or Italian fancy. In such excellent features, the Marschalk Manor-House is second to none of its cotemporaries. How it was commenced, and how it attained its present form, a few words will explain. In the year 1643, a grant of land was obtained from the Indians by Balthazar Marschalk, the first of the name in this country, though, by the family archives, his lineage could be traced some centuries back in the history of Holland, during which time, his ancestors had held sundry posts of influence and honor, The land given at first covered an extent of several square miles, and although since much reduced, is yet one of the best farming tracts in the State. Two years after, the grant having been confirmed by the Dutch government, Balthazar engaged in the then profitable fur trade, and built a large depot for the purpose among the Highlands. That was the commencement of the Manor-House. At first it must have seemed but a sorry habitation, for it bore none of its present appearances of comfort, its only purpose being to protect pelfries from the weather, and occasionally to shelter, during a night, some straggling band of friendly Indians. To this end, four thick stone walls, as rough inside as out, were its only requisites, while a few little cannon, together with a liberal supply of fire-arms, composed its sole furniture. But years afterwards, when the trade was becoming less profitable and the intercourse with the natives less hazardous, the mansion underwent sundry alterations, in order to fit it for a family residence, and the Marschalks, leaving the town of New York, came hither to live. Then the exterior of the depot was much enriched with a variety of embattled gables which crowned the roof, and quaint arcs and angles, which were made to project from every window and doorway; while the inside was divided into compartiments and neatly plastered throughout. Several wings were also added, in order to afford increased accommodations. For in those days, a larger mansion was needed than now, since the Marschalks were numerous and powerful, and held frequent family meetings;-and it is said that often, upon festival occasions, some fifty persons, all related, enlivened the old Manor-House with music and dancing, and made the woods to resound with the cheerful blasts of their hunting-horns and the larder to be fragrant with the newly killed deer. That time might have been called the glory of the Marschalk family. Now, one solitary deer, the last of his race in this part of the country, stalks up and down the park, divested of all his youthful energy, his only remaining pleasure being to stand upon the river's bank, and, with glazed and filmy eyes, gaze upon his own poor reflection. And only one Marschalk now walks through these ample halls;-like the poor deer, a miserable representative of former times. At the same time with those other improvements, a circumference of nearly two miles was laid out round the house as a park, and tastefully planted with shade trees. These have now grown venerable with age, and form one of the greatest ornaments of the estate. Moreover, the whole edge of the park, except where the Hudson washes its turf, was bordered with box-wood, which more than an hundred years have changed into a beautiful hedge, wonderful to all the surrounding country for its height and thickness. The inside of the Manor-House is not at all inferior to the outside in picturesque appearance. A hall over twenty feet in width divides the mansion, and all the rooms which open into it are well furnished with antique and curiously carved furniture. But my chief delight is the library, to which leads a wide stair-case, flanked with bannisters carved in that massive and grotesque style of art which so much prevailed some centuries ago. The largest room in the house is required for a library, for not only is it obliged to contain a fine assortment of English and Dutch volumes, but all my curiosities and antiquities must also be collected in one place. Among the principal of these I might mention sundry family portraits, most all painted by the most celebrated masters of their respective times. On one wall, hang some giant antlers, mementoes of my ancestors' skill in deer-stalking. On another side are some costumes of the days of Stuyvesant, complete from the cocked hat to the gold shoe-buckles. In one corner, are several old pipes, richly painted, and in another leans one of the little cannon which once served to protect the fur-traders. In fine, the apartment is so crowded with my antiquities, that there is scarcely room for my chair and writing table, and it requires the exercise of a careful step, if any one would pass through without doing mischief. And I must not forget to speak of a huge fireplace surrounded with veritable pictured tiles, to polish which has become the daily pleasing pastime of an old negro who waits upon me, and who, for a spirit of fidelity unsuited to these times, has become the most notable of all my curiosities. CHAPTER SECOND, Showeth forth in what manner I was left alone. It was at a window of this library that I sat one day, and gazed out upon the rippling Hudson, but although all nature danced, my heart was filled with sadness. My only worldly relation, an orphan nephew, whom I had myself educated, and, for his amiable and high spirited qualities, loved as my own son, was that morning to leave me, in order to travel through foreign lands. And while I thought upon my coming loneliness, and sadly wondered whether, with years so thickly strewn upon my head, I should ever see him again, the door was thrown open and he bounded in. "You have come to say good-by,' my boy," I said. "Yes, uncle, the boat is already turning between the Highlands, and will touch the wharf ere many minutes are over. So you see that my time here must be short." "Good-by, and God bless you! Ludwig. You will leave me alone, but I must not speak to you of that, for it is necessary that you should go. In the days of my youth, no young man of family considered his education completed, until he had seen every part of Europe; and if, after that, he crossed over into any of the other continents, so much the better for him. He must shoot the chamois in the Alps-make his bow at every foreign court-drink coffee, hob-and-nob with some pacha of a dozen tails-dance with the peasant girls of France and Italy-kill wolves in Norway, and be shipwrecked in the Archipelago, or else he was considered a poor, good-for-nothing fellow, destitute of the first rudiments. of an education, and only fit to work a farm. At present, it is true, matters are changed. It seems to be sufficient to fill one's head with Greek, Latin and Hebrew, gain a smattering of Shakspeare and Dante, and look across the great Atlantic through the medium of some fashionable review, and the work is done. The young man is turned out into society and pronounced perfect, for he knows every thing about the wide world except its realities. Now I belong to the past generation, and have been educated in accordance with its principles, and am determined that you shall enjoy the same advantages. You will not complain of my decision ?" "Certainly not, Uncle. Whatever may be the merits or demerits of your system, it is a vastly pleasant one." "To be sure it is. Every young man rejoices at having an opportunity of seeing the world; and indeed, I myself would like to go with you, were it not for my rheumatism." Rheumatism, Uncle? not a bit of it! How often have I told you that you are as well as I, and that if you were to run about over the fields, instead of moping through the day in a close room, you would find the vigor of youth still boiling in your veins? Try it, Uncle! Throw away those hideous crutches, which so foolishly and uselessly prop up a body fully able to support itself. Cast off those slippers and put on the stout boots which you once wore. Then mount your horse and gallop over the lawn and through the neighboring woods, and ere an hour is over, you will shout with animating glee, and laugh to think what a trick your sick fancy has played you these three years." No, my boy, my dancing days are over," I said, and at the time I fully believed it. "I have naught to do now but watch myself unceasingly, and endeavor to keep in feeble motion, for a few years longer, the blood which has already begun to stagnate in my veins. But now to other matters. Until my thirtieth year I lived on this manor with my father. Then your parents came hither, and dying within three months of each other, left you to my care. I have adopted you as my child and heir, and now, for the first time in my life, I shall be left completely alone, since you are going away, in order to learn how to preside over this estate in future years as should become a true Marschalk. Endeavor to cheer my heart with a frequent correspondence. A single letter will place you at my side, in spirit, for many a month." "My dear Uncle, you shall have no cause to complain of me." And now, once more, God bless you! You will make me to look upon this river in future with new interest, for I shall imagine that every tiny wave which curls itself upon its bosom is floating down to waft you safely over the ocean." My noble boy wrung my hand, and vainly endeavoring to hide the tear which glistened in his eye, left me, while I hobbled to the window to watch his receding form. I saw him mount his horse and ride swiftly down to the landing at Cold Spring. Then the beautiful steamer received him and exultingly bore him away with many a splash and hideous snorting. Another of those leviathan palaces appeared in sight above, and in its turn passed on, but it had no interest for me. The first had received all my prayers and good wishes. That had vanished from my sight. I was alone. And what of that?" I soliloquized. "Is it any great hardship to be for once without company? Or can a man have a better companion than his faithful dog? Here, Zephyr!" The beautiful grey-hound raised himself from his cushion in the corner and affectionately rubbed his nose against my hand. I gazed at him with admiration for a brief moment, and then turned away. "You are beautiful and you love me, but-you cannot speak. Pshaw words are not the only medium of speech. All nature talks in eloquent strains. Why should I feel lonely by this noble river, and encompassed as I am by these grand old hills, peopled with a thousand traditionary tales?" And again I looked forth, but although nature was not wanting in conversational powers, the subjects discussed were most unsatisfactory to me. 46 'You're alone!" said a little bubbling stream, which coursed between two of the noblest bluffs of the Highlands. "You're alone-quite alone!" discoursed the mocking wind, and it swept over the water, bearing with it the same disagreeable strain. "You're alone-most miserably left alone!" whispered the river, as it dashed against its pebbly boundaries. And every thing took particular pains to taunt me with my loneliness, and, at the same time intimated, that all other objects were enjoying the tantalizing delights of companionship. There seemed to be no tree that had not a neighbor with which to lock its giant branches; no little ripple on the stream, which did not ever and anon mingle its spray drops with the crest of some other tiny wave; not even a dry leaf, which did not course in airy circles with some fellow leaf. Two birds with golden plumage flew by, and, with malicious envy, I wished a musket in my hand, whereby to spoil their insufferable happiness. A sullen croak directed my attention below, and I perceived two ill-omened frogs telling discordant compliments to each other. I caught up a heavy leaden inkstand and hurled it with my best aim. The offenders remained unhurt and hopped away-together. I saw a black mass of mud and rotten leaves beneath the overhanging roof. With my crutch I poked it away, when, with many a shrill hiss, too hideous bats issued forth and flew to some safer abode-in company. What! shall even the wretched frogs and bats enjoy companionship, while I, the oldest representative of the Marschalks, am left without a friend with whom to hold intercourse? By the Saint! it is a dreadful thing to be alone!" Such were my reflections, and forced from the window by these disagreeable sights, nothing was left me but my pipe. I fixed its pearl mouthpiece between my lips and smoked steadily for the next hour. And as the room became filled with vapor, so my eyes gradually closed with the premonitory symptoms of slumber. CHAPTER THIRD, Showeth forth how and wherefore I was led to perform a very inglorious achievement. How long I slept, I know not. I only remember that the shades of night had commenced falling, when I shook off my drowsiness and looked around. Legions of frogs were now croaking forth |