tic interest. The Indian wars were
signalized by a great uprising and attack here, which was known as
the war of 1663, when a considerable number of the inhabitants
were killed, a still larger number were taken prisoners, and about
one-fourth of the houses were burned to the ground. Reinforcements
were sent by the governor-general from New Amsterdam, followed by his
personal presence, when the Indians were driven back to the mountains,
and, after a tedious campaign, their fields destroyed and the
prisoners recaptured. When the next great crisis in our history came
Kingston bore a conspicuous part. It was the scene of the formation of
the State Government. The Constitution was here discussed and
adopted. George Clinton was called from the Highlands, where, as a
brigadier-general of the Continental army, he was commanding all the
forces upon the Hudson River, which were opposing the attempts of Sir
Henry Clinton to reach the northern part of the State and relieve
Burgoyne, hemmed in by Gates at Saratoga. He was the ideal war
governor--unbuckling his sword in the court room, that he might take
the oath of office, and returning, immediately after the simple form
of his inauguration, to his command upon the Hudson River.

* * *

A paradise of beauty in the light
Poured by the sinking sun, the mountain glows
In the soft summer evening.

_Alfred B. Street._

* * *

"The court house, standing opposite to us, and rebuilt upon its old
foundations, and occupying, substantially, the same superficies of
ground with its predecessors, recalls the dramatic scene where,
surrounded by the council of safety, and in a square formed by two
companies of soldiers, he was proclaimed Governor by Egbert Dumond,
the sheriff of the county, reading his proclamation from the top of a
barrel, and closing it with the words 'God save the people,' for the
first time taking the place of 'God save the King.' The only building
in any way connected with the civil foundation of this great State is
still standing, and presents the same appearance that it did at the
time of its erection, prior to the year 1690. It was subsequently
occupied by General Armstrong, who, while residing here for the better
education of his children, in Kingston Academy, was appointed minister
to France. Aaron Burr, then in attendance upon court, spent an evening
with General Armstrong, at his house, and, having observed the merit
of sundry sketches, mad