DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



481 



9. Before giving a name to a new fruit, its qua- 

 lities should be decided by at least two season's ex- 

 perience ; and no new fruit can be safely recom- 

 mended for general cultivation, until the same has 

 been tested and found valuable in more than one 

 locality. 



JO. When two persons have named or described 

 a new native fruit, then the name and description 

 tirst published, if according to the rules herein in- 

 dicated, shall have the priority. 



11. No person introducing new fruits from abroad, 

 shall be allowed to rechristen the same, or give them 

 his own name ; but shall submit the same to some 

 competent pomologist to ascertain the true name 



12. In deciding the names of fruits already de- 

 scribed, the " Catalogue of the London Horticultu- 

 ral Society,'"' shall be considered the standard Eu- 

 ropean authority; and Downing's " Fruits and Fruit 

 Trees of America," the standard American autho- 

 rit}'. . • • • 



Purchase of Mt. Vernon. — We have received 

 from our correspondent, Wm. D. Brackenbridge, 

 Esq., of Washington, a circular entitled — "Docu- 

 ments relating to the proposed purchase of Mount 

 Vernon by the citizens of the United States, in order 

 that they may at all times have a legal and indis- 

 putable right to visit the grounds, mansion and tomb 

 of Washington." 



Mount V^ernon is a spot endeared by associations, 

 the most sacred and the most profound to the heart 

 of every American. Up to this time, it has remain- 

 ed in the possession of the Washington family, and 

 is now the property of JNIrs. Jane C. Washing- 

 ton. It remains very much in the same condition, 

 as respects buildings, trees, and grounds, as when 

 left by its tirst distinguished possessor ; but the 

 grounds and the buildings have long shown eviden- 

 ces of decay and dilapidation, greatly to be deplor- 

 ed. It is, therefore, most strongly to be desired, 

 that this estate should become public property ; 

 that it should be restored to, and kept in the best 

 condition ; that, in short, it should forever remain 

 a monument — at once the most touching, and the 

 most beautiful cf all monuments, to the memory of 

 the great and good man, whose private feelings and 

 domestic sympathies — wherever his public duties 

 called him — were always centered in this, his be- 

 loved Mount Vernon. 



From this circular, we gather that a correspond- 

 ence has been carried on netween the present pos- 

 sessor of Mount Vernon and the Hon. Mr. Dallas, 

 and a number of distinguished senators ; the result 

 of whicli, is that the estate is offered to the public 

 for $100,000 in U. S. six per cent, stock. In order 

 to carry out the plan based upon this, the following 

 Memorial is being circulated, to petition Congress 

 to appropriate the necessary sum : 



•' Memorial of American Citi- 



zens, praying that Mount Vernon may become 

 the property of the United States, in order that the 

 Mansio.v and favorite Grounds of Washington, 

 with the TO-MB containing his sacred Remains, 

 may be kept in a suitable and proper state of pre- 

 servation, and no longer left subject to the uncer- 

 tainties and imnsiexs, o{ private estatt s ; and that 

 they and their posterity may have a legal and in- 

 disputed right to visit, without restraint, that place, 



Nou 11. 61 



hallowed, as it is, by every patriotic association and 

 emotion that enchain the hearts of Americans. 



'To the honorable the Senate and House of Repre- 

 sentatives of the United States of .America in Con- 

 gress -Assembled. 



'■ Your memorialists, citizens of the United States, 

 living in the full enjoyment of the priceless liberties, 

 mainly achieved by the indefatigable and unrequited 

 services of Washington, respectfully represent ; that 

 it is their fervent wish and sincere desire to see, 

 without further delay, the requisite appropriation 

 made, and the necessary measures taken, by your 

 honorable bodies, to purchase 'one hundred and 

 fifty acres of Mount Vernon, lying between paral- 

 lel lines, and extending from the Potomac river to 

 the Alexandria road, so as to include the buildings, 

 grounds and tomb of Washington, agreeably to the 

 terras specified in a letter from John A. Washing- 

 ton, Esq., to Hon. G. M. Dallas, vice president 

 of the United States, Hon. Jno. W. Davis, late 

 speaker of the United States House of Representa- 

 tives, Hon. Reverdy Johnson, Hon. J. T. More- 

 head, United States senators, and others, dated at 

 Mount Vernon, December 22, 1846, and naming 

 the sura of one hundred thousand dollars in U. st 

 six per cent, stock, as the satisfaction for which 

 said invaluable premises will be transferred to the 

 General Government by the present proprietress, 

 Mrs. Jane C. Washington. 



"Your memorialists further represent, that in 

 common with their fellow citizens, they entertain 

 the most profound reverence and veneration for eve- 

 rything connected with the memory of the ' Sa- 

 viour of America ;' and that by consummating the 

 aforesaid purchase, the slanderous charge, accusing 

 republics of being invariably ungrateful, will be re^ 

 futed, and a small instalment made towards liqui- 

 dating a portion of the debt of gratitude due to 

 his memory irom the favored citizens of this coun- 

 try. 



"They therefore request that action may be 

 promptly taken to carry out and consummate the 

 object set forth in this memorial, that they and their 

 descendants may enjoy the right and privilege of 

 visiting, unrestrictedly, the venerated Grounds, 

 Mansion, and Sepulchre of Washington, which, 

 at present, are liable to the various casualties, un- 

 certainties and transfers attendant upon all private 

 property in the absence of laws of entailment and 

 primogeniture. 



" All which is respectfully submitted." 



We hope this movement will be entered into by 

 all good patriots throughout the country. There 

 is no spot in the world which will hold so high a 

 place in the affections of after ages as Mount Ver- 

 non ; consecrated by the moral labors, the serene 

 enjoyments, the life, the death, and the grave of 

 Washington. 



Our correspondent informs us, that if the plan is 

 carried out, it is proposed to make in the park at 

 Mount Vernon a complete collection of American 

 trees. This would increase the interest of the 

 grounds. The great point, it appears to us, how- 

 ever, would be to restore, maintain, and carry out, 

 as far as possible, the condition of the estate as 

 planned end desired by its great owner. 



