The "Riedesel House."—Description of the Place by the Baroness Riedesel.—Attestation of the genuineness of Phillis's Poetry.

A few rods above the residence of Professor Longfellow is the house in which the Brunswick general, the Baron Riedesel, and his family were quartered, during the stay of the captive army of Burgoyne in the vicinity of Boston. I was not aware, when I visited Cambridge, that the old mansion was still in existence; but, through the kindness of Mr. Longfellow, I am able to present the features of its southern front, with a description.

In style it is very much like that of Washington's head-quarters, and the general appearance of the grounds around is similar. It is shaded by noble linden-trees, and adorned with shrubbery, presenting to the eye all the attractions noticed by the Baroness of Riedesel in her charming Letters. ** Upon a window-pane on the west side of the house

* This is from a pencil sketch by Mr. Longfellow. I am also indebted to him for the fae-simile of the autograph of the Baroness of Riedesel. It will be perceived that the i is placed before the e in spelling the name. I have heretofore given it with the e first, which is according to the orthography in Burgoyne's State of the Expedition, &c., wherein I supposed it was spelled correctly. This autograph shows it to be erroneous. Mr. Longfellow's beautiful poem, "The Open Window," refers to this mansion.

** She thus writes respecting her removal from a peasant's house on Winter Hill to Cambridge, and her residence there: "We passed three weeks in this place, and were then transferred to Cambridge, where we were lodged in one of the best houses of the place, which belonged to Royalists. Seven families, who were connected by relationship, or lived in great intimacy, had here farms, gardens, and splendid mansions, and not far off orchards, and the buildings were at a quarter of a mile distant from each other. The owners had been in the habit of assembling every afternoon in one or another of these houses, and of diverting themselves with music or dancing, and lived in affluence, in good humor, and without care, until this unfortunate war at once dispersed them, and transformed all their houses into solitary abodes, except two, the proprietors of which were also soon obliged to make their escape. "On the 3d of June, 1778, I gave a ball and supper, in celebration of my husband's birth-day. I had invited all our generals and officers, and Mr. and Mrs. Carter. General Burgoyne sent us an apology, after he had made us wait for him till eight o'clock. He had always some excuse for not visiting us, until he was about departing for England, when he came and made me many apologies, to which I made no other reply than that I should be extremely sorry if he had put himself to any inconvenience for our sake. The dance lasted long, and we had an excellent supper, to which more than eighty persons sat down. Our yard and garden were illuminated. The king's birth-day falling on the next day, it was resolved that the company should not separate before his majesty's health was drank; which was done, with feelings of the liveliest attachment to his person and interests. Never, I believe, was 'God Save the King' sung with more enthusiasm, or with feelings more sincere. Our two eldest girls were brought into the room to sec the illumination. We were all deeply moved, and proud to have the courage to display such sentiments in the midst of our enemies. Even Mr. Carter* could not forbear participating in our enthusiasm."—Letters and Memoirs relating to the War of American Independence, and the Capture of the German Troops at Saratoga: By Madame De Riedesel.

* The following curious attestation of the genuineness of the poems of Phillis is printed in the preface to the volume. Many of the names will be recognized as prominent in the Revolution. .

** "To the Public.—As it has been repeatedly suggested to the publisher, by persons who have seen the manuscript, that numbers would be ready to suspect they were not really the writings of Phillis, he has procured the following attestation from the most respectable characters in Boston, that none might have the least ground for disputing their original: 'We, whose names are underwritten, do assure the world that the poems specified in the following page were (as we verily believe) written by Phillis, a young negro girl, who was, but a few years since, brought an uncultivated barbarian from Africa, and has ever since been, and now is, under the disadvantage of serving as a slave in a family in this town. She has been examined by some of the best judges, and is thought qualified to write them.

"'The Hon. Thomas Hubbard,
The Hon. John Irving,
The Hon. James Pitts,
The Hon. Harrison Gray,
The Hon. James Bowdoin,
John Hancock, Esq.,
Joseph Green, Esq.,
Richard Carey, Esq.,
His Excellency Thomas Hutchinson, Governor
The Hon. Andrew Oliver, Lieut. Governor
The Rev. Charles Chauncey, D.D.,
The Rev. Mather Byles, D.D.,
The Rev. Edward Pemberton, D.D.,
The Rev. Andrew Eliot, D.D.,
The Rev. Samuel Cooper, D.D.,
The Rev. Mr. Samuel Mather,
The Rev. Mr. John Moorhead,
Mr. John Wheatley (her master!.'"