William Elliot Griffis

“ To understand the Dutch people, we must not inquire of aliens in speech or temper, or of belated tradition. To get the truth one must see the Dutch homeland, go into the archives for the past, and let those long dead speak in their own defense. He must live among the Hollanders, and with their descendants, to know the real character of the people who laid the foundations of our four Middle States. Then the student, who, like the author, is not of Dutch blood or inheritance, can emancipate himself from old wives' fables, distorted views, and damaging traditions. ”

“ The hardy, active men who made New Netherland were not fat, or old, or stupid fellows. They were young men, lithe, alert, and venturesome. The first comers knew little or nothing about tobacco, though they quickly learned its use from the Indians, and even smoked the homegrown article, presented to them by the Pilgrims of Massachusetts. Not one of them pronounced the syllable "dam" in "Amsterdam" or "Rotterdam," as if he were swearing in English.
Most of the grotesque stories about the Hollanders in New Amsterdam grew up in late times, long after Dutch ceased to be spoken in America. ”

“ I studied five years at New Brunswick, New Jersey, the Dutch-American educational capital. For nine years, as Domine of the Dutch church of Schenectady, I served a congregation uniquely rich in heirlooms and documents, the people being for the most part descendants of the pioneers of 1661. In both places I learned fact and truth in human lives as well as in parchments. Many current notions about New Netherland were seen to be vulgar errors, of which Americans should be ashamed. ”