636 HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER. 



"A part of the Phillips estate, (observes Mr. Sabine,) was in posses- 

 sion of Colonel Morris in right of his wife, and was confiscated ; and 

 that the whole interest should pass under the act, Mrs. Morris was 

 included in the attainder. It is believed that this lady, her sisters, Mrs. 

 Robinson, and Mrs. Inglis, were the only females who were attainted of 

 treason during the struggle. But it appeared in due time, that the con- 

 fiscation act did not affect the rights of Mrs. Morris's children. The 

 fee simple of the estate was valued by the British government at ^20,- 

 000 ; and by the rules of determining the worth of life interests, the 

 life interest of Col. Morris and his wife were fixed at ^12,605, for 

 which sum they received a certificate of compensation. 



"In 1787, the Attorney General of England examined the case, and 

 gave the opinion, that the reversionary interest (or property of the chil- 

 dren at the decease of the parents,) was not included in their attainder, 

 and was recoverable under the principles of law and of right. In the 

 year 1809, their son, Captain Henry Gage Morris of the royal navy, in 

 behalf of himself and his two sisters, accordingly sold this reversionary 

 interest to John Jacob Astor, Esquire, of New York, for the sum of 

 ^£2 0,000 sterling. In 1828 Mr. Astor made a compromise with the 

 State of New York, by which he received for the rights thus purchased 

 by him (with or without associates.) the large amount of five hundred 

 thousand dollars. The terms of the arrangement required, that within 

 a specified time he should execute a deed of conveyance in fee simple, 

 with a warrantee against the claims of the Morrises — husband and wife 

 — their heirs, and all persons claiming under them ; and that he should 

 also obtain the judgment of the Supreme Court of the United States 

 affirming the validity and perfectibility of his title. These conditions 

 were complied with, and the respectable body of farmers who held the 

 confiscated lands under titles derived from the sales of the commission- 

 ers of forfeitures, were thus quieted in their possessions. It is under- 

 stood that the British government made them a second compensation 

 for their losses, and that the whole sum received was ^£i 7,000 sterling. 



There is a beautiful portrait of Mary Philipse still preserved at Phil- 

 ipstown in the Highlands, which represents the youthful heroine in all 

 her native loveliness. It is in the possession of her namesake and grand 

 niece, Mary Philipse, widow of the late Samuel Gouverneur, Esq. In 

 Rivington's Royal Gazette of May 18, 1773, occurs the following notice 

 of the commencement at King's College, (now Columbia College) New 

 York. 



" Tuesday being the day appointed for the annual commencement of 

 the graduates of King's College in this city, a very numerous and splen- 



