HISTORIC KINGSBRIDGE 165 



and death," they reared a marble tablet in front of St. Paul's 

 Church, Broadway and Vesey Streets, New York City, which had 

 been procured by Franklin in France. In the British Parliament, 

 Barre wept profusely when he heard of Montgomery's death. 

 Burke eulogized him as the hero, who in one campaign, conquered 

 two-thirds of Canada. To which Lord North replied: "I can not 

 join in lamenting the death of Montgomery as a public loss. Curse 

 on his virtues! He was brave, able, humane, generous; but still 

 he was only a brave, able, humane and generous rebel." "The 

 term rebel," retorted Fox, "is no certain mark of disgrace. All 

 the great asserters of liberty, the saviors of their country, the 

 benefactors of mankind have been called 'rebels.' We owe our 

 constitution which enables us to sit in this house to a rebellion." 

 The remains of Montgomery were removed in 1818 in com- 

 pliance with a special act of the Legislature, and were deposited 

 near the monument which the United States Government had 

 erected in his memory. The ceremonies were conducted on a most 

 brilliant scale. The tablet bears the following inscriptions: 



This Monument is erected by the order of Congress 25th Janry, 1776, 

 to transmit to Posterity a grateful remembrance of the patriotism conduct 

 enterprize & performance 



of Major General RICHARD MONTGOMERY 

 who after a series of successes amidst the most discouraging Difficulties 

 Fell in the attack on 



QUEBEC. 31st Decbr., 1775. Aged 37 Years. 



The State of New York 



Caused the Remains of 



Maj. Genl. RICHARD MONTGOMERY 



to be conveyed from Quebec 



and deposited beneath this Monument 



the 8th day of July 



1818 



Montgomery's will is still extant and bears the signature of 

 Benedict Arnold. To his sister Sarah, Lady Ranelagh, he left his 

 estate of Kingsbridge. Doubt is cast upon the genuineness of the 

 Montgomery house on Fort Independence Street. Thomas Henry 

 Edsall, the historian of Kingsbridge, states that the original house 

 was burned and completely destroyed by the British during the 

 Revolution. William Ogden Giles, who bought the property and 



