the city itself, built upon hills and slopes, is more than half concealed by the lofty trees which surround the manor house of the Van Rensselaer family in the northern part of the city. This is one of the most attractive town residences in the State. The mansion, erected in 1765, and recently somewhat modified in external appearance, stands within a park of many acres, beautified by the hand of taste. It is adorned with tiowers and shrubbery, and its pleasant walks are shaded by grand old trees, some of which were, doubtless, planted or were forest saplings, two

VAN l!E>aSELAER MANOB HOUSE-

hundred years or more ago, when the first Patroon''s mansion, with its reed-covered roof, was erected thei-e. Through the grounds flows Mill Creek, a clear stream that comes down from the hills on the west, through the once sweet vale of Tivoli, where, until the construction of a railway eff'aced it, the music of a romantic cascade -- the Falls of Tivoli -- was heard.

The reader may inquire why the proprietor of this estate was called the Patroon, and invested with manorial title and privileges. History furnishes an answer in this wise : -- The Dutch West India Company, having made all proper arrangements for colonising New Netherlands, as

THE HUDSON.

New York was then called, passed a charter of pi-ivileges and exemptions in 1629, for the encouragement of Patroons, or patrons, to make settlements. It was provided that every Patroon, to whom privileges and exemptions should be granted, should, within four years after the establishment of a colony, have there, as permanent residents, at least fifty persons over fifteen years of age, one-fourth of whom should be located within the first year. Such privileges were granted to Killian Van Eensselaer, a pearl merchant of Amsterdam, and one of the directors of the West India Company, and by his direction the commissary and under commissary of Fort Orange, around whose site the city of Albany now stands, purchased of the Indians a tract of land in that vicinity.