of a house within the fort, — but Vander Donck, the first and at that time the only lawyer of the place, was not permitted to practice, as there was no one to oppose him. The Schepen heard and decided, without haste or delay, upon the few cases that were brought before him, ruling by a code as simple and effectual as that of Solomon. From the pages of Dolph Heyliger we may borrow a vivid picture of the Albany of that day: On their arrival at Albany, the sight of Dolph's companion seemed to cause universal satisfaction. Many were the greetings at the river-side, and the salutations in the streets; the dogs bounded before him; the boys whooped as he passed; every- body seemed to know Antony Vander Heyden. Dolph followed on in silence, admiring the neatness of this worthy burgh; for in those days Albany was in all its glory, and inhabited almost ex- clusively by the descendants of the original Dutch settlers, not having as yet been discovered and colonised by the restless people of New England. Everything was quiet and orderly; everything was conducted calmly and leisurely; no hurry, no bustle, no struggling and scrambling for existence. The grass grew about the unpaved streets, and relieved the eye by its refreshing verdure. Tall sycamores or pendent willows shaded Digitized by Microsoft® 530 The Hudson River the houses, with caterpillars swinging, in long silken strings, from their branches; or moths, fluttering about like coxcombs, in joy at their gay transformation. The houses were built in the old Dutch style, with the gable-ends towards the street. The thrifty housewife was seated on a bench before her door, in close-crimped cap, bright-flowered gown, and white apron, busily employed in knitting. The husband smoked his pipe on the opposite bench ; and the little pet negro girl, seated on the step at her mistress's feet, was industriously plying her needle. The swallows sported about the eaves, or skimmed along the streets, and brought back some rich booty for their clamorous young ; and the little house- keeping wren flew in and out of a Liliputian house, or an old hat nailed against the wall. The cows were coming home, low- ing through the streets, to be milked at their owner's door; and if, perchance, there were any loiterers, some negro urchin, with a long goad, was gently urging them homewards. In Gorham A. Worth's Recollections of Albany, pub- hshed first in 1 849, there is a description of an old Albany- house, that of Balthazar Lydius, who died about the beginning of the nineteenth century: This old gentleman, if tradition may be relied upon, was some- thing of a lion in his day. He was unusually tall, raw-boned, and of a most forbidding aspect — singular in his habits and eccentric in his character — but independent, honest, and gruff as a bear. He occupied, at the commencement of the present [nineteenth] century, the old and somewhat mysterious-looking mansion then standing at the southeast corner of North Pearl and State streets, and was, of course, next door neighbour, in an easterly line, to the old elm tree on the corner. Its position admitted two front gables, and two front gables it had ; thus rival- ing, if not excelling, in architectural dignity the celebrated man- sion of the Vander Heyden family. One front rested on Pearl, the other on State. Each had its full complement of outside decorative adjuncts — namely, long spouts for the eaves, little benches at the door, iron figures on the wall, and a rooster on the gable head. Digitized by Microsoft® An Old Dutch Town 531 In a footnote the editor adds this precious bit of information regarding this house : It is said to have been imported from Holland, bricks, wood- work, tiles, and ornamental irons, with which it was profusely adorned, expressly for the use of the Rev. Gideon Schaets, who came over in 1652. It is said that the materials arrived simul- taneously with the pulpit and the old church bell in 1657. It is supposed to have been the oldest brick building in America at the time it was demolished in 1833 to make room for the present Apothecary's Hall. . . . The Pearl Street door is said to have been used only for the egress of the dead. The orgies of a Dutch funeral are fast receding from the memory of the living. Few remain who have witnessed them. The records of the church show the expenses of the funerals of church paupers two hundred years ago in rum, beer, tobacco, pipes, etc. Mr. Worth mentions Lydius Street as having been named for the venerable gentleman he described, but the editor corrects him: The street was named in honour