llegiance to the royal cause, all their American real
estate being confiscated by the New York assembly. The mansion became
in time the residence of that remarkable woman who, from a barefoot
girl in Providence, R.I., had grown up to be the wife of a Frenchman
named Jumel; and to be the object of much admiration, and the subject
of some scandal. In her widowhood she received under this roof Aaron
Burr, after his duel with Hamilton (whose neighbouring country-house
still exists, in Convent Avenue), and under this roof she and
Burr--both in their old age--were united in marriage. I imagine that
some of the ghosts that haunt this mansion, if they might be got in a
corner, would yield their interviewers a quaint reminiscence or two.
The grounds appertaining to the house have been sadly diminished by
the opening of new streets; yet it is still a fine, striking landmark,
perched to be seen afar, as from the railroad trains that follow the
East bank of the Harlem, or, better, from West 155th Street at and
about its junction with St. Nicholas Place and the Speedway. At the
time when I left New York for a temporary residence in the Old World,
there was talk of moving the house to a less commanding, but still
eminent, height that crowns the bluff rising from the Speedway: the
owner was compelled, it was said, to avail himself of the increased
value of the land whereon it stood. 'Tis some pity if this has been,
or has to be, done; but nothing to the pity if the mansion had to be
pulled down. Apart from all associations and historical interest, this
imposing specimen of our Colonial domestic architecture, so simple and
reposeful an edifice amidst a world of flat buildings, and of gew-gaw
houses built for sale on the instalment plan to the ubiquitous Mr. and
Mrs. Veneering, is a precious relief, nay an untiring delight, to the
eye.

NOTE 5 (Page 202).

During this Winter (1779-80) the Continental army was in two main
divisions. The one with which Washington made his headquarters was
hutted on the heights about Morristown, N.J. The other, under General
Heath, was stationed in the highlands of the Hudson. Intermediate
territory, of course, was more or less thoroughly guarded by detached
posts, militia, and various forces regular and irregular. The most of
the cavalry was quartered in Connecticut; but Winwood's troop, as our
narrative shows, was established near Washington's headquarters. This
was a memorably cold Winter, and as se