294 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN. 



not to have been disturbed by the hand of man since 1757. 

 I think you must admit Mrs. K. and I had considerable en- 

 terprise, considering the great inconvenience of travelling at 

 that day in what was then a new and wild country. I had 

 learned in early youth from my father and from Carver's 

 " Travels " (for he was present) the tragical story of the 

 Massacre of the garrison, and I trod the ground with highly 

 excited feelings. You have given a very interesting ac- 

 count of that enchanting spot Monte Video, and the pencil 



of Mr. W has contributed exceedingly to illustrate and 



adorn your work. If I ever go to Hartford I think I shall 

 solicit the honor of his company on a visit to his seat, which 

 does infinite credit to his munificence and taste. 



All the leisure I have had this season was occupied in a 

 short visit to Governor Jay, who lives at Bedford, about ten 

 miles west of Ridgefield, in Connecticut. I went through 

 Dutchess County and the mountains in Putnam County, and 

 discharged a debt of respect, reverence, and gratitude, 

 which I owed to that venerable man. Mrs. K., as usual, 

 accompanied me, and we stayed a night with him. He is 

 now seventy-four years old, and is feeble but cheerful, and 

 his mind appears to have retained all its acuteness and 

 vigor. He has a grand farm of six hundred acres, and 

 everything ab^out him was plain, convenient, and substan- 

 tial, and bore the same stamp of solidity and simplicity 

 which has always characterized the owner. He received us 

 with most engaging kindness, and conversed freely on the 

 passing events of the times, and dwelt on the Revolution, 

 in which he bore such a distinguished part. He spoke 

 highly of Dr. Dwight's volumes on theology, and regretted 

 he had not known more of him in his lifetime. He is 

 very religious and performed family worship in the Episco- 

 pal form with tender and impressive devotion. He ap- 

 peared to be a perfect model of a Christian sage, and I am 

 not aware that we have a more finished character in the 

 country. From his house we returned through Danbury, 



