76 WITH MR. CHAMBERLAIN IN THE 



ture, about lOO feet long, the sidings of which are 

 cut and painted to resemble stone. The central and 

 main part was built in 1743 by Lawrence Washing- 

 ton, who named it " Mount Vernon." At his death 

 he left it to his brother George, who added various 

 extensions, notably colonnades supported by pillars 

 back and front and a piazza paved with enormous 

 flagstones brought from the Isle of Wight. The 

 General dignified it with the name of '* The Mansion 

 House." Inside it is practically a museum full of 

 most interesting relics, to which every State in the 

 Union has contributed something, not the least 

 noteworthy being the key of the Bastille, and also a 

 beautiful model cut from the granite of the de- 

 molished prison, both of which were presented to 

 Washington by Lafayette. There are also the room 

 and bed in which Washington died, and also those 

 in which his widow died eighteen months later. 

 The property belongs to the State of Virginia, who 

 purchased it from the family in 1856. 



But of course the most interesting feature, to 

 which we all proceeded bareheaded on landing, is 

 Washington's tomb, which stands in the grounds 

 among cypress trees to the left of the Mansion as you 

 look at it from the river. It is an unpretentious 

 edifice, built of brick. You enter it through double 



