Washington Irving

A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Dietrich Knickerbocker Washington Irving

Book Excerpt: ...to discharge certain debts he has left behind.* * * * *From the "American Citizen" December 6, 1809. Is this day published, By INSKEEP and BRADFORD, No. 128, Broadway, A History of New York,&c. &c.(Containing same as above.) ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHORIt was some time, if I recollect right, in the early part of the fall of 1808, that a stranger applied for lodgings at the Independent Columbian Hotel in Mulberry Street, of which I am landlord. He was a small, brisk-looking old gentleman, dressed in a rusty black coat, a pair of olive velvet breeches, and a small cocked hat. He had a few gray hairs plaited and clubbed behind, and his beard seemed to be of some eight-and-forty hours' growth. The only piece of finery which he bore about him was a bright pair of square silver shoe-buckles; and all his baggage was contained in a pair of saddle-bags, which he carried under his arm. His whole appearance was something out of the commo...