the constitution of this State, and was honored by the suffrages of his country at the first election under the new government the station of lieutenant governor, and continued to be elected to that office for eighteen years successively. He was the friend and confidant of that great patriot, George Clinton. In the revolution he shared the fate of the friends of their country; his family were obliged to abandon their homes in the Manor of Cortlandt, and take refuge in the interior. Firm and undismayed in adversity; the ill success of our arms was a stimulus to greater exertions. He was one of those who, relying on the justice of their cause, put their trust in God and stood firm at the post of danger. In prosperity he was not too much elated, but held a temperate and uniform course, having in view only the independence of the United States and the safety of his country. In the Senate of this State he presided with dignity and propriety, nor ever suffered his opinion to be known until called upon constitutionally to decide; and his vote was then given with promptness, uninfluenced by party feelings, and evidencing the convictions of a sound and honest mind. In the year 1795 he declined a re-election as lieutenant governor, and retired into private life. An obituary published in the New York Commercial Advertiser, prepared by his sons, paid homage to the father with the apt summation that Pierre Van Cortlandt was, "a patriot of the first order zealous for the Liberties of his Country. He was a friend to the Poor, he was a kind and good neighbour, an affectionate fond and indulgent Parent, an honest man and a good Christian." Pierre Van Cortlandt was buried at Hillside Cemetery in Peekskill, New York. The inscription on his grave marker reads: Pierre Van Cortlandt, Late Lieut. Governor of the State of New York. President of the convention that formed the Constitution thereof, during the Revolutionary War with Great Britain. He was a Patriot of the first order, Zealous to the last for the liberties of his Country. A man of exemplary Virtues, kind as a neighbor, fond and indulgent as a parent, an honest man, ever the friend of the poor. Respected and Beloved. The simplicity of his private life was that of an ancient Patriot. He died a bright witness of that perfect