The very man who had informed them of Captain L.'s arrival home, how must he have been maddened in his turn when he remembered that he had been lashed, again and again, to force from him his money, and had sjKjnt night after night away from his homo and family to avoid the violence and robbery of hostile neighbors?

few with great hopes. Patriotic expressions, declarations of the difficulties of the situation, wise counselings as to the public policy, and as to the courses of action in the several industries and interests, mingle in the letters of the day, with the usual detail of incident, and ever and anon with passionate denunciation of the past follies of neighbors bringing so much trouble.

The farms of the County, with soil none the best to be sure, were in a while restored to their former yielding power, and signs of the old comfort and thrift began to appear. It was not long before it was realized that the former strength and prosperity were fast returning. The population, which had decreased some one thousand or twelve hundred, began to show marks of increase.

Perhaps nothing gave a stronger impulse to the improvement in the condition of the county than the demand, at the beginning of this century, for the products of the American soil in foreign markets, during the distracting and devastating war on the European Continent. The prices which the farmer obtained were almost fabulous, and all the other industries, of course, flourished under the good fortune. In connection with this, it must also be stated that the freedom of the seas was now open, unrivaled, to the new nation, whose fine harbors so distinctively seemed to point out the commercial consequence to which, under a wise policy, she might attain. The Port of New York was especially marked for its activity, and the number of vessels which weekly started, freighted for foreign markets, seem, under all the circumstances, almost incredible.