nch Catholic priest; of a hundred and one
similar incidents in a life history which, as we read it, is far too
strange not to be true.

Spectacular he was from his birth, and even today his name upon a
page is enough to set up a whole theatre in our imaginations. Just one
incident comes to me at this moment. It is so closely associated with
the region with which this book is concerned, that I cannot but set it
down in passing.

The story runs that it was a mistake in an order which sent General
Knox of Silliman's Brigade to a small fort one mile from town (that
is, about Grand Street), known as "Bunker's Hill"--not to be
confounded with the other and more famous "Bunker"! It happened to be
a singularly unfortunate position. There was neither food nor water in
proper quantities, and the munitions were almost non-existent. The
enemy was on the island.

Whether Major Burr, of Putnam's division, was sent under some regular
authority, or whether he characteristically had taken the matter into
his own hands, the histories I have read do not tell. But they do tell
of his galloping up, breathless on a lathered horse, making the little
force understand the danger of their position, pleading with his
inimitable eloquence and advancing the reasons for their retreat at
once. The men were stubborn; they did not want to retreat. But he
talked. He proved that the English could take the scrap of a fort in
four hours; he exhorted and urged, and at last he won. They said they
would follow him. From that moment he took charge, and led them along
the Greenwich Road through the woods, skirting the swamps, fording the
rivers, to Harlem, to safety and to eventual victory.

This was only one of many instances in which his wit, his eloquence,
his good sense, his leadership and his unquestioned personal daring
served his country and served her well.

When Washington moved his headquarters to the Roger Morris house near
the Point of Rocks, a period of comparative mystery descended for a
time upon Richmond Hill. During the ensuing struggle, and before the
formal evacuation of New York, the house is supposed to have been
occupied off and on by British officers. But in 1783 they departed for
good! and in 1789, Vice-president John Adams and Mistress Abigail came
to live there.

We have already read two examples of Mrs. Adams' enthusiastic
outpourings in regard to Richmond Hill. She was, in fact, never tired
of writing of it. A favourite quota