certainly never was infatuation equal to this. The fortysecond regiment was then in the height of deserved reputation; in it there was not a private man that did not consider himself as rather above the lower class of people, and peculiarly bound to support the honor of the very singular corps to which he belonged. This brave, hard-fated regiment was then commanded by a veteran of great experience and military skill, Colonel Gordon Graham, who had the first point of attack assigned to him; he was wounded at the first onset. How many this regiment, in particular, lost of men and officers, I cannot now exactly say; but these were very many. What I distinctly remember, having often heard of it since, is that, of the survivors, every officer retired wounded off the field. Of the fifty-fifth regiment, to which my father had newly been attached, ten officers were killed, including all the field officers. No human beings could show more determined courage than this brave army did. Standing four hours under a constant discharge of cannon and musketry from barricades, on which it was impossible for them to make the least impression, General Abercrombie saw the fruitless waste of blood that was every hour increasing, and ordered a retreat, which was very precipitate, so much so, that they crossed the lake, and regained their camp on the other side, the same night. Two thousand men were killed, wounded, or taken, on this disastrous day. On the next, those most dangerously wounded were sent forward in boats, and reached the Flats before evening; they in a manner brought (at least confirmed) the news of the defeat. Madame had her barn instantly fitted up into a temporary hospital, and a room in her house allotted for the surgeon who attended the patients; among these was Lee, the same insolent and rapacious Lee, who had insulted this general benefactress, and deprived her of one of her greatest pleasures, that of giving a share of every thing she had, to advance the service. She treated him with compassion, without adverting, by the least hint, to the past. She tore up her sheets and table-linen for bandages; and she and her nieces were constantly employed in attending and cheering the wounded, while all her domestics were busied in preparing food and every thing necessary for those unhappy sufferers. Even Lee felt and acknowledged the resistless force of such generous humanity. He swore, in his

vehement manner, that he was sure there would be a place reserved for Madame in heaven, though no other woman should be there, and that he should wish for nothing better than to share her final destiny. The active industrious beneficence she exercised at this time, not only towards the wounded, but the wretched widows and orphans who had remained here, and had lost their all in their husbands and parents, was beyond praise. Could I clearly recollect and arrange the anecdotes of this period, as I have often heard them, they would of themselves fill a volume; suffice it, that such was the veneration in which she was held in the army after this period, that I recollect, among the earliest impressions received in my mind, that of a profound reverence for Madame, as these people were wont to call her. Before I ever saw her, I used to think of her as a most august personage, of a majestic presence; sitting on an elevated seat, and scattering bounty to wounded soldiers, and poor women and children.

CHAPTER XLII.

The family of Madame's sister.-The death of the latter.

AUNT found consolation for all her sorrows in the family of her favorite sister. The promise of uncommon merit, which appeared in the rising branches of that singularly fine family, was to her a peculiar gratification; for no mother could love her own children more tenderly than she did them. The two daughters, which were among the eldest, passed, by turns, much of their time with her, and were, from their beauty and their manners, the ornaments of her society; while their good sense, ripened by being called early into action, made these amiable and elegant young women more a comfort and assistance than a care or charge to their aunt, at a very early period. They had four brothers; three of whom are still living, and have, through life, done honor by their virtues, their manners, and their conduct, in the most trying exigences, to the memory and example of their excellent parents, as well as to that collateral school of pure morality,

and sound and genuine policy, of which they shared the benefit.

The history of this family, in the after vicissitudes in which the political changes in their country involved them, would furnish a very interesting detail, were it allowable to offend the delicacy of modest worth, or eligible to expose the depravity and fury of enraged factions. Of the brothers, I shall only mention that the third, in his childhood, showed uncommon fire and vivacity; not seeming to retain the smallest portion of that hereditary phlegm, which could still be easily traced through many of the settlers of this peculiar colony. He could scarce be called an unlucky boy, for he never did harm designedly; yet he was so volatile, eccentric, and original, in the frolicsome excursions of his fancy, that many ludicrous and some serious consequences resulted from them. He showed, however, amidst all these gayeties, from a very early age, a steady and determined predilection towards a military life, which in due time was indulged, and has been since the means of leading him on to rank and distinction in the British service.* Of the eldest brother I shall have occasion to speak hereafter; the second and youngest were zealous partisans of government at the time of the revolution. Their loyalty occasioned the loss of their fortunes and their homes; but their worth and bravery procured them confidence and important commands in that painful service which was carried on during the American war, at the end of which they were partially rewarded by grants of land in Upper Canada. Loyalty and courage seem hereditary in this family. Many sons of those expatriated brothers are now serving their country in different parts of the empire, undeterred by the losses and sufferings of their parents in the royal cause. was a marked distinction of character to be observed in the conduct of aunt's protégés, that though she was equally attached to the children of her husband's relations and her own, these latter, only, adopted her political sentiments, with a single exception, which shall be mentioned in its place.

It

The defeat at Ticonderoga bore very hard upon the mind of Madame; public spirit was always an active principle in

The capture of Tobago was achieved by General C, who has for near forty years been engaged in the most active and hazardous departments of the service.

her strong and reflecting mind; and from the particular circumstances in which she had always been involved, her patriotism gained strength by exercise. The same ardent concern for the public good, which could produce no other effect but fruitless anxiety, would be as unavailing as unnecessary in our secure and tranquil state; but with her it was an exercised and useful virtue. Her attachment to the British nation, which was to the very last a ruling principle both of her actions and opinions, contributed to embitter this blow to her and her family. The taking of Frontinac, on the western lakes, and the re-establishment of our power in that important quarter, were achieved by General Bradstreet, whom Abercrombie dispatched at the head of three thousand provincials. This was a cordial much wanted by all, and more particularly gratifying to the family at the Flats, as the colonel's nephew, Philip Schuyler, though his was not exactly a warlike department, had evinced much spirit, prudence, and resolution during that expedition; in which, without publicly arrogating command, he, under Bradstreet, (who was indeed a very able man,) directed most of the operations. In the mind of this extraordinary person, qualities suited to all occasions lay dormant and unsuspected, till called forth by the varying events of his busy though not bustling life; for he seemed to carry on the plans, public and private, which he executed with superior ability and success, by mere volition. No one ever saw him appear hurried, embarrassed, or agitated. The success of this expedition, and the rising distinction of her nephew Philip, was some consolation to Madame for the late disaster. Still friendly and hospitable, she was as kindly disposed towards the British as ever, and as indefatigable in promoting a good understanding between them and the natives; but the army was now on a larger scale. It was in a manner regularly organized, and more independent of such aid as individuals could bestow; and the many children educated by her, or left orphans to her care, became, from their number, their marriage, and various pursuits, objects of more earnest solicitude.

At this period Aunt Schuyler, now everywhere spoken of by that affectionate designation, met with a severe affliction in the death of a sister, whom she had always loved with more than common tenderness, and whose family she consid

ered in a manner as her own. This was Mrs. Cuyler, the wife of that able and upright magistrate, Cornelius Cuyler, of whose family I have just been giving some account. Mrs. Cuyler, with a character more gentle and retiring, possessed the good sense and benevolence for which aunt was distinguished, though her sphere of action being entirely within the limits of her own family, she could not be so well known or so much celebrated. The colonel had always had a great attachment to this valuable person; which still more endeared her to his widow. She, however, always found new duties resulting from her afflictions, so that she could not afford to sink under them. She now was at pains to console her sister's husband, who really seemed borne down by this stroke; and the exertions she made for the good of his singularly promising family, kept her mind occupied.

CHAPTER XLIII.

Further successes of the British arms.-A Missionary.-Cortlandt Schuyler.

THE Conquest of Oswego, which was this year (1759) retaken from the French by General Bradstreet, contributed to revive the drooping spirits of the army and the patriots; and it was quickly succeeded by the dear-bought conquest of Quebec. Though Madame had never seen General Wolfe, she shared the general admiration of his heroism, and the general sorrow for his loss, in a very high degree. She, too, was conscious that the security and tranquillity purchased by the conquest of Quebec, would, in a manner, loosen the bonds which held the colonists attached to a government which they only endured while they required its protection. This led to consequences which she too clearly foresaw.

The mind of Mrs. Schuyler, which had been greatly agitated by the sad events at Ticonderoga, now began, in consequence of the late successes, to become more composed, and to turn itself to objects of utility, as formerly. What she had done, and made others do for the orphans and widows that