DISTINGUISHED GUESTS. 



113 



and flow, and when Nature, convinced of her 

 error, throws down the Rocky Mountains and 

 the Sierras to convert the ground into building 

 lots and farms. 



Mrs. Van Cortlandt, who is withal a lady of 

 rare literary ability, is at present compiling a 

 work which will be of great interest not only 

 to the various branches of the family, but to 

 the public in connection with their history. 

 The participation of Westchester County in 

 the events of the Revolutionary war will find 

 a prominent place. On one of the proof-sheets 

 we were permitted to see, we read an extract 

 from a letter written by Pierre van Cortlandt, 

 November 13, 1775, to his son, the Colonel: 

 "Thursday night were here to supper and 

 breakfast of Col. Hammond's regiment about 

 three hundred men. They said they drank two 

 hogsheads of cider." And doubtless there was a 

 store of Madeira in the cellar for more distin- 

 guished guests. It is added, '^ Franklin tarried 

 here on his way back from Canada in 1776. 

 Here, too, came Lafayette, Rochambeau, and 

 the Duke de Lauzun." Washington was here 

 many times while the army lay on the shores 

 of the Hudson and along the heights of the 



Croton. In more peaceful days the great 

 8 



