[mairdie]

Henry Livingston, author of "Night Before Christmas," had a wild imagination and original sense of humor. He wrote about the civilizations on the nearby planets, as seen through a telescope carved from the ice of the River Volga and, as a judge, the proper reward needed to encourage horse thievery. In this prose piece, his point of view is that of a pine tree which has watched for centuries as Europeans covered the land once held by native Americans. Henry's view of native Americans was pretty much New York Dutch. While a Major in the 3rd New York in 1775, heading north to invade Canada, it was Livingston's job to reassure the chiefs of the Caghnawaga nation with a banquet in the small town of LaPrairie, so he was familiar with the New York tribes.

His dates are wrong, of course, but might well be the view of the time, given the width and depth of his own reading. It's interesting, to me, to see the 1792 New York Dutch view of the essence of the Columbus debate we're reading about today.

[GT Vander]

My family settled in “New Netherlands” in 1661, been here ever since.

[Oratam]

bkmk

[Cincinnatus]

Just was reading this last night in the marvelous Henry Livingston bio. What a delightful read. There can be no doubt of the authorship of tnbc. His wit and charm just leap! off the page!