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"This afternoon, while strolling on the Battery-that beautiful spot where the commerce of the world may be watched from shady walks-his thoughts went back some two hundred years and more. He called to mind the autumn of 1613; the arrival from Holland of ADRIAN BLOCK, and his adventurous Dutch comrades; the burning of their ship, 'The Tiger,' just as they were about to return to Fatherland; the erection of the first few cabins the germ of New-York- at the extreme point of Manhattan Island; the long winter that the earliest Europeans spent here, cheered in their solitude, and fed in their distress, by the kindness of the aboriginal savages. He thought of the energy with which BLOCK and his companions set about building a new vessel of some sixteen tons; and how they launched her, and called her the 'Restless,' as if to foreshadow and typify the enterprising commerce which was destined to follow her from here, and whiten every sea; and how BLOCK sailed in the 'Restless,' through Hell-gate, and up the Fresh or Connecticut River, and gave his immortal name to Block-Island, and discovered that Long-Island was divided from the Continent by the Sound. And when he thought of all this—of the humble beginning and the mighty result it seemed to him that, as New-Yorkers, we should no longer suffer the merited reproach of indifference to the early enterprise of our own first settlers, while the piety of our eastern friends is about to erect a fitting memorial to commemorate the more recent landing of their forefathers on the sands of New Plymouth.'

'Mr. BRODHEAD concluded by offering as a sentiment the following resolution, which was unanimously adopted with all the honors of a toast:

"RESOLVED: That a monument should be erected on the Battery, to commemorate the first occupation of this City by the Dutch, in the year 1613, and the building of its first vessel, 'The Restless,' by ADRIAEN BLOCK; and that this Society will take proper steps to give effect to this resolution.''

'Mr. JOHN VAN BUREN, in replying to a complimentary notice of the stewards-humorously alluding to the presence of a namesake, Mr. JOHN D. Van Beuren, who, he supposed, was the person figuring so largely in the public prints, and for whose misdoings here and elsewhere he had found himself amenable, though perfectly innocent, and all the time attending to his business at home — succeeded in arousing a war of wit and humor, which, on the part of both gentlemen, was carried on with a spirit and energy that afforded the most unbounded delight; the Parthian arrows being aimed with a precision that never failed to tell.

'During the evening, the PRESIDENT read the following elegant letter from the Hon. EDWARD EVERETT, in reply to an invitation from the stewards to be present on the occasion:

"Washington, 2 December, 1853.

"GENTLEMEN: Your obliging note of the twenty-third of November reached me a day or two since. I am greatly indebted to the stewards for their kind invitation to attend the anniversary-festival of the Saint NICHOLAS Society, of New-York. I much regret that it is not in my power to be present on an occasion of so much interest, not merely to the members of the Society, but to all who appreciate as they ought that sterling element of our aggregate American character which is derived from the land of your forefathers.

"That country stands in no need of holiday-compliments. In the very physical structure of considerable portions of it, it is one of the noblest creations of human energy and perseverance. It contests with Germany, on plausible grounds, the honor of the invention of printing; it is certainly entitled to that of the invention of painting in oils. It led the great contest of Teutonic freedom against the absolutism of the Latin races before either England or Sweden took the field. The Declaration of the Independence of the seven United Provinces, in 1581, was the model of the Declaration of 1776. The government of the Netherlands was the first that sent out a well-organized

and well-fought navy; it was, in fact, the first example, in the modern world, of a powerful though ill-compacted Republic. In ERASMUS, the Netherlands produced one of the earliest and most efficient restorers of the lost literature of the ancient world; and in GROTIUS, the great legislator of the International Code. They received and sheltered the fugitive founders of New-England; they colonized New-York; they gave to Great Britain the liberal and politic prince who rescued her from the tyranny of the STUARTS. The country that can show such titles to the admiration and gratitude of mankind, may be content with her place in history. Her descendants, in whatever region, will have no occasion to be ashamed of their origin. "I remain, Gentlemen,

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'He then proposed the health of Mr. EVERETT, which was responded to in a manner that showed the high appreciation, entertained by the members, of the letter and its distinguished author. He next read the following toast, sent, he remarked, by that faithful and true Son of Saint NICHOLAS, Mr. LOUIS GAYLORD CLARK, of the KNICKERBOCKER, Who, being under the pleasant necessity of exercising a KNICKERBOCKER virtue, in extending hospitality to others, was compelled to absent himself from the feast:

THE KNICKERBOCKER 'PLATFORM:' Old Times, Old Friends, and Old Associations. Air: 'When this Old Cap was New.''

The health of the hospitable and energetic proprietors of the Hotel, Messrs. TREADWELL and ACKER, having been proposed, Mr. HOFFMAN responded in their behalf, and by their request, in appropriate and merited terms.

'The PRESIDENT took occasion, during the evening, to exhibit a glass jar of preserved pears, a present from Mrs. JANE M. MACNEVEN, 'gathered from an old Dutch tree on the farm of her brother, Mr. J. L. RIKER.' This appropriate token of the remembrance of a venerable KNICKERBOCKER lady, was an agreeable and interesting incident of the evening. The pleasures of this 'era of good feeling' were greatly enhanced by the presence of the celebrated troupe, 'BUCKLEY'S Serenaders,' who, from time to time, sung some very fine glees, accompanied by the piano. There was a misty halo of 'social glory' about the scene at this time, which, as the novelists say, can 'better be imagined than described.' Seated with their long pipes and cheerful glasses before them, each member and guest seemed the very embodiment of true enjoyment.

'At a very late, or rather early hour, (about two o'clock,) the PRESIDENT called to his chair Mr. Vice-President BRODHEAD, who, reörganizing his nowthinning ranks, commenced a new era of pleasure. Speeches and merriment prolonged the hours of festivity, until the words of the chorus,

"We won't go home till morning, till day-light doth appear,'

came very near receiving a practical demonstration.'

GOSSIPPING LETTER FROM A SCHOOLMASTER IN MINNESOTA. - In the absence of any positive information upon the subject, we shall venture to attribute the following letter to the pen of the editor of the 'Bunkum Flag-Staff! We had heard that that journal had been suspended for lack of adequate patronage, and that its talented' and versatile editor had moved out west.'

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'how hard it was to write good' for his paper, and how unpleasant the memory of having his nose pulled 'on political grounds,' he has undoubtedly 'gone and located' at the Old North Gulch,' where he is engaged at target-practice with the 'Young Ideas' of that neighborhood. His 'style,' remarkable as it always was, seems even improved in the present epistle:

'Waccolby Station, Minnesota: at the Old North Gulch, October 1st, 1853. 'DEAR SIR: In order that I may give you the earliest ideas of our Territory, I sit down to inform you of what is doing at present at the Old North Gulch. You may, perhaps, be at this time somewhat engrossed in your Crystal Palace, and Ethiopian minstrels, of which we have received extravagant plaudits in these parts: while not over one man in fifty, in your community, is probably examining the western papers in order to be informed of the doings at our Gulch. Minnesota Territory is gradually rising in the scale of the States, and if you do not hear oftener from us, it is not because we are unaware of the interest which may be excited among you with reference to our doings, but because we are engaged in manufactories. Your Magazine circulates to a considerable extent among us, and common-schools abound; which, I think, may lead your citizens to judge us as not behind the age. Whatever may be said of the rest of Minnesota, the people of the Gulch, could you see them, (more especially I now refer to those who live near the saw-mill, and by Mr. PITCHIN'S fulling-works,) are really up to the age, if not beyond it, in intelligence; and some of the operatives quite transcendental. I am a common-school teacher myself, and only testify to what I do know. Could the people of New-York come out here, they would see that which would astonish them: I refer not only to the trade on the canals, but to the general progress of the inhabitants. Lyceums are by no means of rare occurrence, while, in the winter season, lectures may be heard in our school-houses which would probably do credit to any Hope-Chapel in your thickly-populated community. In fact, our lectures have become so abundant, that we think of abolishing them altogether, and substituting Encyclopedias in their stead.

'At the Gulch, all is life. By noon, the stage comes in, and brings the newspapers from the East. This is an exciting time with us, as we are anxious to know what the Zar is going to do. Will the war go on between Turkey and Russia?- that is the great point. We of the Gulch think that the Ottoman is a Mahometan genleman, while the Zar is a barbaric despot. Could our people conveniently turn out a regiment, we would do so with much pleasure, as an auxiliary corp; in which case, we would give some of those DEMBINSKYS a thrash. As it is, we can but wish well to the Ottoman Port. This, however, is conducting me, step by step, from matters which may be of more immediate interest to your citizens.

'A very delicate trial has been for a long time pending, and lately eliminated, in our midst, one of the parties of which was considered as one of our hitherto most respected and respectable citizens. Mr. GIMBLIN had long resided among us, an individual whom no man could shake a stick at with impunity; a kind father, a good husband, an affectionate brother, a voter at our polls, member of a fire-company, a payer of taxes, a subscriber to the Tract Society, master of the village-pound, a valetudinarian, and a church-member, all of which was so much prima-facie evidence in his favor.

'Of a suddent, it was hinted that he had become flagrantly derelinquent in a matter which concerned the peace and well-doing (pecuniary) of this community. It gave a shock which, as it was not anticipated, was correspondingly awful. He was a man whom

we were in the habit of meeting every day at our post-office, and on the corners of our principal streets, in the store, in the blacksmith's shop, and in the grocery, where, sitting upon the counter, we were in the habit of knocking our heels against the boards, smoking pipes, and discussing politics; in which Mr. GIMBLIN seemed to have more insight than any of us, finding most fault of all with our Postmaster-General, because he did not dispatch the mails to the Gulch so speedily as he had ought to do. Some property was suddenly missing. Mr. GIMBLIN was taken up on this suspicion, and it made a most tremendous noise, as you may rest assured. I don't believe that there is one village this side of the Rocky mountains where this affair of GIMBLIN was not talked about, to which the wings of the electric-telegraph lent their aid. That the character of so prominent a man should be blasted, and that in the bud, seemed to be like the off-shots of fiction, rather than a mere, simple, disingenuous fact; and it was essentially discredited by nearly all individuals of a respectable cast who became cog nizant of the same. For, what object, it was remarked, and that exceedingly judiciously, could he have, so to render himself amenable and obnoxious to the courts of justice, when it was supposed that he had large property at stake in the iron-mines, to say nothing of the offices which he held, and his responsibility as a father of a family? It looked like a figment in the very face of it: a nightmare, an incubus, and a substratum of mere folly, to which there could be appended not one single justifying circumstance. For my own part, I resolved to remain neutral in the matter until more positive material should be added to superincumbent weight, and give a semblance of the crime specified: (for, to be frank with you,) Mr. GIMBLIN was charged with stealing a watch, an ever-pointed pencil, and the half of a hog. As to the pencil, it was stated to have been found onto his person, but he could find justifying circumstance for the same.

'When the trial drew near, Mr. GIMBLIN sent a polite note to all his friends and acquaintances, both at the Gulch and elsewhere, not by any manner of means to omit being present at his trial, in order that they might be the witnesses and spectators of his substantial vindication from this infamous and flagitious charge. He asked it as a particular favor of his friends, to come as if they were coming to his wedding, and bring their friends; while, in the intervening junction of time, he smiled a still smile, placed his hand on his heart, and said he did not steal the spare-ribs or the watch, so help him GOD. He wrote to me, under date of the fifteenth:

"MY DEAR FRIEND: I am as cheerful as a wood-sawyer. Drop in and see me; and by no means if you have to shut up your school and give the scholars a vacation- fail to attend my trial, and bring the first class in grammar with you. I want the rising generation to see how innocence can stand on its pedestal; for I never stole the hog, and as to the watch it was my grand-father's; while the pencil is too trifling a matter to discuss at this present. P. S. If you should see friend JONES, tell him to come.'

'In consequence of all this, we proceeded to the court-house on the appointed day: and now I am going to report to you the most singular part of the matter. Mr. GIMBLIN never looked better in his life. His face shone like a razor with a sort of satisfaction, and he looked all round, like an eagle on a pole. He shook hands with me, and he shook hands with Mr. EBENEZER ELLIOT, and he asked how all the children were, and he went up to the first class in MURRAY'S English grammar, which I had brought into the court-room to gratify him, and he smiled patronizingly onto them, and said to them: Boys, be virtuous, and you will be happy!' When the question was put to him, he plead 'not guilty,' with a voice like the thunder of a cataract, and he repeated it over two or three times, striking his chest and nodding his head, and asseverating, 'Not guilty! not guilty!' We all nodded back to him approvingly, and whispered to one another: 'Here is a case of gross conspiracy; Mr. GIMBLIN is safe!' and he nodded back to us, as much as to say: 'Wait a few moments: I am safe!'

'Well, the judge sot, and the jury sot, and the witnesses were brought on and examined; and though you may scarcely find it possible to credit what I may now state to you, I declare upon my word and honor, that the charge was fastened on him by the most abundant testimony, clear as day, bright as a beam of sun-light, and not the least mistake. He stole the watch, he stole the half-hog, and he stole the ever-pointed pencil-all three. We looked upon one another, and were dumbfoundered, and could

scarcely credit our ears. We then looked upon Mr. GIMBLIN; and, his countenance lighting up suddently, like a ray of light which had slanted down from the Alleghanies, gave us renewed hope that there might be some kink in the testimony, and some loophole through which, by some possible manner of means, an insulted innocence might squeedge itself. Standing firmly onto his legs, and surveying the learned counsel, casting a forgiving look on those who had testified against him, folding his arms on his breast, and hacking and coughing two or three times, in order to clear his throat -- as he was at the time afflicted very severely with the influenza- he spoke (altogether extemporany) in a fluent voice, and addressed the Court thus:

May it please the Court: I came here, convicted of my innocence, and could not entertain a doubt upon a matter of so vital an interest; and I doo feel, now, an indispo sition to change my views; being far more willing to have a good opinion of this deponent. But, gentlemen, I am compelled to do it, constrained by the force of the testimony, which appears to be irrefragable, unequivocal, and much stronger than I deemed any way possible, to acknowledge that the guilt of this deponent has been very circumstantially and fully made out. I am afraid you will have to send me to jail. I guess that will be the shortest road of squaring up accounts; and after that, I shall be a wiser and better man. I have no doubt but what I shall be a wiser and a better man.' 'With that, he made as handsome a bow as any gentleman could make, and smiled quite in good spirits. We are dumbfoundered at the Gulch. Yours,

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'UNCLE REUBEN'A' DOWN-EAST' SKETCH. - We know not how it may be with others, but we do like to 'scan' such home-pictures as the following of 'Uncle Reuben,' a 'down-east' wag of the first water. No one can doubt that the sketch describes a real character, and that he was a 'marked man' in his day and generation:

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'I NEVER knew such a general favorite as 'Uncle REUBEN' was. He was not one of your universal 'uncles'— uncle to every body - but my own great-uncle — my grandmother's brother. He is not a fictitious, but a real character, as many a man in the Old Colony has had abundant reason to believe. It was a great treat to have him come in to spend an evening, whether he talked of politics, or, as he used to express it, small, like a woman.' My mother never stopped her spinning-wheel for any man but him; and when he took off his hat, (a sure indication that he intended to spend the evening,) her face would gradually brighten into a DRUMMOND-light. While he tarried, she seemed to ache with delight, and for days after, she would continually break out laughing, and laugh till she cried. I was a chicken then, and wondered why she cried and laughed so; but I was comforted to find that every body did the like. Yet 'Uncle REUBEN' was hardly ever known to laugh, and but seldom to smile. The women and children all loved him - - a sure indication of a good heart; and he loved every body. "There was Corporal STANDISH, that every body else hated, for he was always doing disagreeable things: slandering his neighbors, and even the parson; continually poking that ugly pug-nose of his where it had no business to be; and apparently for the express purpose of having it pulled. But 'Uncle REUBEN' was always kind to him, and Mr. STANDISH liked 'Uncle REUBEN' as well as he did any body, until one rainy Saturday evening, when the neighbors were all over to Mr. MORSE'S 'shoemaker-shop' talking politics. Mr. MORSE had just taken from off the fire a kettle of wax, and set it aside to cool. While it was still warm and shining, Mr. STANDISH came in. 'Uncle REUBEN' remarked, incidentally, that powder for the hair had all gone out of fashion. The General Assembly have recommended not to use it, and at the last court none of the judges wore wigs. Hair-oil is all the rage, and 'Government,' in order to do the handsome thing for Gen. LAFAYETTE, have given him the exclusive right to make it.' 'Uncle REUBEN' then read from a newspaper quite a long article to that effect, and although I tried to

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