* This view is from the road, looking northeast. The low part, on the left, is a portion of the old mansion of the Revolution, which contained the dining-hall. It was a long stone building. A part of it has been taken down, and the present more spacious edifice, of brick, was erected soon after the war.
** Mrs. Smith, in her introduction to The Salamander, makes mention of the centenarian, and of these relics. "The ancient matron," she says, "has none of the garrulity of old age; on the contrary, as she adverted to past scenes, a quiet stateliness grew upon her, in beautiful harmony with the subject. Rarely will another behold the sight, so pleasing to ourselves, of five generations, each and all in perfect health and intelligence, under the same roof-tree. She spoke of this with evident satisfaction, and of the length of lime her ancestors had been upon the soil; in truth, we had never felt more sensibly the honorableness of Gray hairs.......We were shown the bed and furniture, remaining as when he [Washington] used them, for the room is kept carefully locked, and only shown as a particular gratification to those interested in all that concerns the man of men. Here were the dark chintz hangings beneath which he had slept; the quaint furniture; old walnut cabinets, dark, massive, and richly carved; a Dutch Bible, mounted with silver, with clasps and chain of same material, each bearing the stamp of antiquity, yet all in perfect preservation; largo China bowls; antique mugs; paintings upon glass of cherished members of the Orange family. These and other objects of interest remain as at that day."
Colonel Aaron Burr at Sufferns.—Confusion of the Militia.—Night Attack upon the British Pickets near Hackensack.
apo Pass, Colonel Burr performed an exploit which was long remembered in the neighborhood.
He received intelligence that the enemy were in considerable force at Hackensack, and advancing into the country. Leaving a guard to protect the camp, Burr marched with the remainder of his effective men to Paramus, a distance of sixteen miles, in the direction of Hackensack. They arrived there at sunset, and found the militia of the district gathered in great confusion in the woods, ordered them to sleep until he should awaken them, and then went alone to reconnoiter. A little before daylight he returned, aroused his men, and directed them to follow him, without speaking a word or firing a gun until ordered, on pain of death.
Having arranged them in order, Burr marched forward with thirty picked men, and at ten o'clock at night approached the pickets of the enemy. When within three miles of Hackensack, Burr led his men upon the enemy before they had time to take up their arms. Leading them unobserved between the sentinels, until within a few yards of the picket-guard, he gave the word Fire! His men rushed forward. A few prisoners and some spoil was carried off by the Americans, without the loss of a man on their part. Burr sent an order to Paramus by an express for all the troops to move, and to rally the country. This success inspirited the militia, and they flocked in great numbers to the standard of Burr. The enemy, thoroughly frightened, retreated in haste to Paulus's Hook (Jersey City), leaving behind them a greater portion of the plunder which they had collected.
We will now leave the Ramapo, and, saying farewell to the Hudson and its associations, wend our way toward the sunny South.