assisting nature, at the Nest,
and what was of almost equal importance, in the state of knowledge on
this subject as it existed in the country sixty years since, they had
done little to mar her efforts. The results were, that the grounds of
Ravensnest possess a breadth that is the fruit of the breadth of our
lands, and a rural beauty which, without being much aided by art, was
still attractive. The herbage was kept short by sheep, of which one
thousand, of the fine wool, were feeding on the lawns, along the slopes,
and particularly on the distant heights, as we crossed the grounds on
our way to the doors.

The Nest House was a respectable New York country dwelling, as such
buildings were constructed among us in the last quarter of the past
century, a little improved and enlarged by the second and third
generations of its owners. The material was of stone, the low cliff on
which it stood supplying enough of an excellent quality; and the shape
of the main _corps de batiment_ as near a square as might be. Each face
of this part of the constructions offered five windows to view, this
being almost the prescribed number for a country residence in that day,
as three have since got to be in towns. These windows, however, had some
size, the main building being just sixty feet square, which was about
ten feet in each direction larger than was common so soon after the
revolution. But wings had been added to the original building, and that
on a plan which conformed to the shape of a structure in square logs,
that had been its predecessor on its immediate site. These wings were
only of a story and a half each, and doubling on each side of the main
edifice just far enough to form a sufficient communication, they ran
back to the very verge of a cliff some forty feet in height,
overlooking, at their respective ends, a meandering rivulet, and a wide
expanse of very productive flats, that annually filled my barns with hay
and my cribs with corn. Of this level and fertile bottom-land there was
near a thousand acres, stretching in three directions, of which two
hundred belonged to what was called the Nest Farm. The remainder was
divided among the farms of the adjacent tenantry. This little
circumstance, among the thousand-and-one other atrocities that were
charged upon me, had been made a ground of accusation, to which I shall
presently have occasion to advert. I shall do this the more readily,
because the fact has not yet reached the ear