September, 1842. 



THE FARMER'SMONTHLY VISITOR, 



[SS 



English uniform — strip and begone," and they 

 were sent on hoard the Marseilles in a state of 

 destitntion scarcely creditable to (he decen 

 of civilized hfe. 



The French fleet now resumed their former 

 anchorage at the blockade of Yorktown, and 

 early next morning, the jirisoners being on deck 

 for air and exercise, they observed an unusual 

 hustle on board the Ville de Paris, of 110 guns, 

 lying near ; and it was whispered about that the 

 commanding generals of the besieging army 

 were soon expected on board her, on a visit to 

 Count de Grasse. Feeling tliat this ujight be 

 their only opportunity lor esnape, my informant 

 said, that he ventured to the edge of the quarter 

 deck and waved his iiat to the captain of the 

 Marseilles, and at length succeeded in making 

 him understand that they were Americans; 

 whicli he could prove to his satisfaction if he 

 could be permitted to explain the facts to an 

 American officer; and the good-natured French- 

 man sent them on board the flag-ship, with a 

 note to the Admiral stating their claims. Soon 

 after, the Admiral's barge approached from the 

 shore, and Washington, Hamilton. Lafayette, 

 Roehambeau and a nmnerous suite ascended the 

 side of this si)lendid ship, (a |)resent from the 

 city of Paris to Louis ICtli) whose full manned 

 yards and roaring cannon announced the arrival 

 of these distinguished guests. Their object was 

 to prevail upon de Grasse to disobey his instruc- 

 tions, winch were, to he in the West Indies on a 

 certain day ; and the all important purpose of a 

 farther short delay was effected through the in- 

 fluence and entreaties of Lafayette. The anx- 

 ious features, injpassioncd language and earnest 

 gesticidatioH of the French officers, contrasted 

 finely with the calm gravity of Wasliinglon, who 

 said but little till the husiiiess was favorably de- 

 cided ; then taking de Grasse by the hand, and 

 pointing to Cornwallis' intrenchtnent, exclaimed 

 with emotion — " your fate is sealed." Washing- 

 ton now directed Col. Hamilton to examine the 

 prisoners claiming to be Americans, which he 

 did by enquiring their names, places of birth, 

 local knowledge, &c. and reported to the Gene- 

 ral in Chief. Washington now stejiped to the 

 forecastle and directed them to answer on the 

 oath he administered, each for himself, and for 

 the others, that they were American citizens ; 

 and they, |>euuiless and destitute, were sent on 

 shore to assist in the capture of Lord Corn- 

 vvallis. 



Soon will the last man cease to he found up- 

 on earth, who remembers ever to have seen 

 George Washington ; but the last man who shall 

 hear of his fame, exalt his virtues and revere his 

 character, will be Lord Byron's last man, the last 

 of our race. " Hail and farewell." 



Lebanon, Sept 4th, 1842. R. K. 



From the JNew York American. 

 Mount Vernon. 



The sun raised himself in a huge globe of fire 

 above the Eastern horizon, as triy friend's spirited 

 bays stood saddled at the door of the Cottage, 

 pawing, champing the bit, and playfully endeav- 

 oring to bite the lilack buy who Ijelil them. Fin- 

 ishing our early breakfasi, we weie soon in our 

 saddles and full gallop on onr journey, the dogs 

 in an ecstacy of deligiit bounding along at our 

 sides, overhauling and putting in bodily terror 

 every unfortunate cur that came in their way, as 

 they sportively tumbled him over and over in 

 curious examination ; Old Bernard, with glisten- 

 ing eyes and wagging tail, bestriding in grim Hin 

 the prostrate form of the enemy. We passed 

 rapidly through the rough paved streets of Alex- 

 andria, watching eagerly for its famed beauties 

 at their casements, and clearing the town, were 

 soon on the rustic road that leads to the sacred 

 place of America. 



The meadows were glistening in the morning 

 dew. The sweet perfume of the clover filled 

 the air; the white daisy and delicate cowslip 

 danced over their luxuriant grassy beds as the 

 fresh morning breeze famied them in its passage ; 

 and mid the sea of melody, high above the merry 

 gossip of the bob-link, the chattering volubility 

 of the mocking bird, his yellow spotted breast 

 swelling with delight, his keen eye gazing into 

 the distance, the Sftucy "j/oit cn«'< ste me" of the 

 meadow lark soimded in merry challenge, while 

 Xhe cXeav " tchew-iohew-il" of tiie qnal from the 

 golden wheat field, was echoed bv his eager com- 



panion far down in the green vales, as they 

 stretched softly and gently into the distance, in 

 the long shadows of the early morning. Oh ! 

 let him tl>;it would scat} the l)enevolence of the 

 Creator, leave his restless bed in the sweltering 

 city, and walk forth with the day in its youth, — 

 for verily, like man, it hath its youth, its manhood 

 and its old age — and the sweetness of morning, 

 is the youth of the <lay. 



The hedges on the road side were covered 

 with a tangled mass of verdure, from which wild 

 vines and giecn ivy crept to the surrounding 

 trees, wreathing gracefully their trunks and 

 branches. The imdergrowth was loaded with 

 wild roses and honey-suckles. The graceful 

 flour-de-lis, burying its blue flowers, trembled 

 upon the green banks, and the proud-lily floating 

 on ils watery bed, threw forth its gratefid fra- 

 grance, as we occasionally passed through the 

 swampy bottoms. Fat cattle gazed indolently in 

 the meadows ; while now and then, as we can- 

 tered by their pastures, the horses with tails and 

 manes erect accompanied us on our journey, till 

 arriving at their confines, with eager neighing, 

 they would look after us, throw their heels high 

 in the air, and gallop down into the broad fields 

 in the very jollity of freedoirv. Every thing 

 seemed contented and joyous. The hearty, hap- 

 py-looking negroes, trudging along to their agri- 

 cultural labors, doffed their hats to us, with a 

 cheerful " good morning," as we passed, or laugh- 

 ingly displayed their white teeth and big eyes, as 

 they led the dew-wet horse to the bars to mount 

 and drive to the milking the smooth, fat kine. A 

 ride of an hour brought us to the woods that join 

 Mount Vernon, which are cleared of under- 

 growth, but in other res|)ects as wild and untam- 

 ed as if naught but the savage had ever placed 

 foot in them. Silence reigned through the deep 

 glades, unbroken, save by the hoofsof our horses, 

 as they resounded with hollow echo ; the sharp 

 chirp of the .squirrel, jmnping among the dry 

 leaves ; or the quick rap, rap, of the woodpecker, 

 as his scarlet head and blue back glanced mo- 

 mentarily from some dead trunk upon our eye- 

 sight. We met with nothing to intercept our 

 progress. Now and then, to be sure, a drove of 

 hogs, feeding upon the mast in the forest, would 

 marshal themselves in our path, stupidly staring 

 at us with a sort of ludicrous, half drunken grav- 

 ity, snuffing the air, as if determined to intercept 

 our progress ; but as we came nearer, they would 

 whirl short about, and with a simultaneous grunt, 

 iheir tails twisted in the air, gallop off with des- 

 perate precipitation into the depth of the forest. 

 Journeying a mile or two fmther, we came upon 

 the porter's lodges, at the entrance of the domain 

 ]>roper, which were old and ruinous. Proceeding 

 still farther over a very bad and rough carriage- 

 road, we came suddenly in view of the Potomac ; 

 and Mount Vernon, with its mansion-house and 

 smooth, green lawn, lay extended before us. 

 Fort Wasiiington's battlements and caimon-filled 

 endirasures in stern silence guarding it from the 

 op[)osite side of the river. 



Fastening our horses, under the guidance of a 

 ray-beaded old negro, born in the family of 

 Gen'l Wasbmgton, we entered the lawn and 

 came upon the rear-front, if the term may be al- 

 lovvcil, of an old fashioned mansion, surmounted 

 Ijy a cupola and weathercock, semicircular piazza 

 extending around from each end, connecting it 

 villi the kitchen and servants' apartments. Va- 

 ious buildings, all bearing the impress of time, 

 vere scattered about, evidently in architectural 

 irder and plan, and tne two large gardens, ren- 

 dered interesting by the flowers and jilants still 

 looming in the beds where lliey had been plac- 

 ed by the hands of the General, extended back to 

 the forest from which we had just emerged. As 

 stood for a moment looking at the old build- 

 ing, we almost expected to see the yellow travel- 

 ling carriage of his Excellency, with its four 

 "leautiful bays, and liveried out-riders, draw up 

 at the great hall door in its centre. Having sent 

 in our address, we received permission from the 

 courteous branch of the family, who now hold 

 the estate, to enter and survey the interior. We 

 were struck with its extreme simplicity, the low- 

 ness of the walls and ceilings, and the bare floors, 

 which were waxed, not, as with us, car|ieted. 

 The sides of the rooms were composed exclu- 

 sively of wooden panels, upon which hung some 

 old oil paintings of merit, — engravings of Naval 

 ■jiis between the English and the Dulch, and 



the French ; and a small enamel miniature^ 

 which is considered the best likeness extant of 

 Washington. CiU'iosities of various kinds cov- 

 ered the shelves and the mantles, and the painted 

 porcelains and china jars, stood in stately display 

 behind the glass doors of the old fashioned 

 beauifits in the corners. 



Our attention was arrested for a moment, as 

 we passed through one of the rooms, by a large 

 rusty key of iron enclosed in a glass case. It 

 was the Key of the Bastile, that infernal prison, 

 monument of centuries of grinding cruelty and 

 oppression, when men vanished, and were seen 

 no more of their day and generation,— where, by 

 the intrigues of the courtier, the subtle blandish- 

 ments of the minion of the palace, lettres de 

 cachet jdunged equally the innocent, the impru- 

 dent, and the generous, into the jaws of living 

 death, — that accursed congere of dungeons where 

 from amid fellowship of rats and spiders, such 

 scraps of soiled paper, written in the blood of the 

 poor prisoner, fluttering from a loophole in its 

 lofty towers, arrests the footstep of the casual 

 passenger upon the csuseway. 



" Mases de Latude, thirly-lwo years prisoner in 

 the Bastile, implores good christians to intercede 

 for him, so that he may once more embrace his 

 poor old father and mother, if they yet live, and 

 die in the open world." 



Surely, nothing but the hallowed air of Mount 

 Vernon could have prevented the Prince of 

 Darkness from bodily carrying off so precious a 

 gem for his cabinet. One side of the great draw- 

 ing room was ornamented with a highly sculp- 

 tured mantle in Italian marl/le, presented by La- 

 fayette, the other was covered with cases con- 

 taining books of high toned selection, while from 

 the third, its green silk curtain drawn aside, was 

 suspended a portrait of the present famil}', by 

 Chapman. The figures of the portrait as large 

 as life, presented a lady of middle age, clad in 

 mourning, surrounded by a group of children 

 advancing into youth. It was well executed, and 

 in the dignified and saddened serenity, in the 

 simple and natural grouping, and the pure and 

 unaffected expression of tlie countenance, no 

 American in any part of the world, would have 

 at once recognized a family group of the more 

 intellectual and refined of his own country. As 

 we walked through the various rooms, from 

 which the family had withdrawn, we were so 

 overcome with the illusion, the work basket with 

 its scissors and thread — the half-opened book ly- 

 ing upon the table, the large bible conspicuously, 

 not ostentatiously, in its place, the portraits on 

 the walls, the busts on their pedestals, — all caus- 

 ing such a vivid impression of present life and 

 being, that we almost expected to see the tower- 

 ing fi)rm of the General entering the door-way, 

 or passing over the green lawn spread between 

 us and that Potomac which he had so often 

 viewed from the same windows. We were nt 

 first disappointed at not seeing in some conspic- 

 uous place that sword, which had so often been 

 extended by the hand whose pulses quickened 

 not in the hour of extremest peril, as it marshal- 

 ed the road of human liberty ; but our disap- 

 pointment turned to adiniration, and our hearts 

 beat still higher, as we were referred to, and read 

 this clause in his last testament: 



" To each of my four nephews, I bequeath 

 one of the swords of which 1 may die possessed. 

 These swords are accompanied with the injunc- 

 tion not to unsheath them for the purpose of 

 shedding blood, except it be for self-defence, or 

 in defence of their country and its rights ; and 

 in the latter case to keep them unsheathed, and 

 prefer fitlling with them in their hands to the re- 

 linquishment thereof" 



Passing through the great hall, ornamented 

 with pictures of English hunting scenes, we as- 

 cended the oaken staircase, with its carved and 

 antique balustrade. We stood at the door — we 

 jircssed the handle— the room and the bed where 

 he died were before us. Nothing in the lofty 

 drama of our existence surpassed the grandeur 

 of that final scene. The cold which he had ta- 

 ken from exposure, in overseeing some part of 

 his grounds, and which resisted the earlier do- 

 mestic- remedies that were applied, advanced in 

 the cour.se of two short days into that frightfiil 

 form of the disease of throat. Laryngitis. It be- 

 came necessary for him to take to his bed. His 

 valued friend, Dr. Craik, was instantly summon- 

 ed, ard assisted by the best medical skill of the 



