south-west. Here Mr. Astor's family reside about eight months of the

year.

A few miles below Rokeby, and lying upon an elevated plain two miles from the river, is the beautiful village of Rhinebeck, containing little more than 1,000 inhabitants. The first settler was William Beekman, or Beckman, who came from the Rhine, in Germany, in 1647, purchased all this region from the Indians, and gave homes to several poor families who came with him. The name of the river in his fatherland, and his own, are commemorated in the title of the town-Rhine-Beck. The house built by him is yet standing, upon a high point near the Rhinebeck station. It is a stone building. The bricks of which the chimney is constructed were imported from Holland. In this house the first public religious services in that region were held, and it was used as a fortress in early times, against the Indians. It now belongs to the Heermance family, descendants of early settlers there. Beekman's son, Henry, afterwards procured a patent from the English government for a very extensive tract of land in Duchess County, including his Rhinebeck estate.

BEEKMAN'S HOUSE.

Just below the Rhinebeck Station is Ellerslie, the seat of the Hon. William Kelly. No point on the Hudson commands a more interesting view of the river and adjacent scenery, than the southern front of the mansion at Ellerslie. The house is at an elevation of two hundred feet above the river, overlooking an extensive park. The river is in full view for more than fourteen miles. At the distance of about thirty-five miles are seen the Fish-Kill Mountains, and the Hudson Highlands, while on the west, the horizon is bounded by the lofty Katzbergs.

Ellerslie is ninety miles from New York city, and contains about seven hundred acres of land, with a front on the river of a mile and a-half. Its character is different from that of an ordinary villa residence, being cultivated with much care as a farm, whilst great regard is had to improving its beauty, and developing landscape effects. The lawn and gardens occupy thirty acres; the greenhouse, graperies, &c., are among

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the most complete in this country. The park contains three hundred acres; its surface is undulated, with masses of old trees scattered over it, and upon it feeds a large herd of thorough-bred Durham cattle, which the proprietor considers a more appropriate ornament than would be a herd of deer.

*

A mile below Ellerslie is Wildercliff, the seat of Miss Mary Garrettson, daughter of the eminent Methodist preacher, Freeborn Garrettson, who married a sister of Chancellor Livingston. The mansion is a very modest

one, compared with some in its neighbourhood. It was built in accordance with the simple tastes of the original proprietor. Mr. Garrettson was a leader among the plain Methodists in the latter part of the last century, when that denomination was beginning to take fast hold upon the public mind in America, and his devoted, blameless life did much to commend his people to a public disposed to deride them.

* More properly Wilder Klippe. This is a Dutch word, signifying wild man's, or wild Indian's, cliffe. The first settlers found upon a smooth rock, on the river shore, at this place, a rude delineation of two Indians, one with a tomahawk, and the other a calumet, or pipe of peace. This gave them the idea of the name.

The very beautiful view from this mansion, down the river, is exceedingly charming for its simple beauty, so much in harmony with the associations of the place. In the centre of the lawn stood a sun-dial. On the left was a magnificent wide-spreading elm. On the right, through the trees, might be seen the cultivated western shore of the Hudson, with the mountains beyond, and in front was the river, stretching away southward, at all times dotted with the white sails of water-craft. This mansion has many associations connected with the early struggles of

Methodism, very dear to the hearts of those who love that branch of the Christian church.

When Mr. Garrettson left the Church of England, in which he had been educated, the Methodists were despised in most places. He was a native of Maryland. Eminently conscientious, he gave his slaves their freedom, and entering upon his ministry, preached everywhere, on all occasions and at all times, offending the wicked and delighting the good, and fearless of all men, having full faith in a special Providence, and oftentimes experiencing proofs of the truth of the idea to which he clung. One example of his proofs may be cited. A mob had seized him on one

occasion, and were taking him to prison by order of a magistrate, when a flash of lightning dispersed them, and they left him unmolested. In 1788 he was appointed Presiding Elder over the churches in the district, extending from Long Island Sound to Lake Champlain, more than two hundred miles. One of his converts was the daughter of Judge Livingston, of Clermont. Mr. Garrettson married her in 1793, and six years afterwards they built the mansion at Wildercliff. Probably no house in the world has ever held within it so many Methodist preachers as this, from the most humble of "weak vessels" up to Bishop Asbury, and other dignitaries of the church; for, with ample means at command, the doors of Mr. Garrettson and his wife were ever open to all, especially to their brethren in the ministry. And that generous hospitality is yet dispensed by the daughter, whose table is seldom without a guest.

CHAPTER X.

PPOSITE Rhinebeck Station is the old Kingston Landing, where the three thousand British troops under General Vaughan disembarked, and marched to the village of Kingston, two miles in the interior, and laid it in ashes. That point was the port of Kingston until within a few years, and the New York and Albany steamboats stopped there, but the thriving village at the mouth of the Rondout Creek, about a mile below, has caused it to be abandoned.

The village of Kingston (originally called Esopus)-situated upon a broad plain on the banks of the Esopus Creek, with a fine range of the southern Katzbergs in the rear-is one of the oldest settlements in the State of New York. As early as 1614, Dutch traders built a redoubt at the mouth of Rondout (a corruption of Redoubt) Creek. A few families settled soon afterwards upon or near the site of Kingston, and called the place Wiltwyck, or Wild Indian Town. They were soon dispersed by the savages. Another settlement then followed; again the savages dispersed them. Finally, in 1660, a treaty was concluded that seemed to promise security to the settlers. But the wrath of the Indians. became fiercely kindled against the white people by Governor Stuyvesant, who sent eleven Indian captives to Curaçoa, and sold them for slaves. In June, 1663, the Indians came into the open fort in great numbers, professedly to trade. At a concerted signal they fell upon the white people, murdered eighteen of them, and carried away forty-two as captives. The out settlements were all destroyed. A destructive war ensued. The Indians were expelled from the fort, and nine days afterwards a reinforcement came from New Amsterdam. The savages were pursued and almost exterminated. In the autumn they returned all the captives but three, and sued for peace.

* The Indians appropriately called this spot At-kan-karten, Smooth Land.