BJLSS FISHING. 133 



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coast ! To this spot, that sterling patriot and lion- 

 hearted soldier retired from the arena of political 

 strife, to spend the evening of his days in social 

 enjoyment and literary relaxation. On a small 

 island, attached to the larger one, which bears his 

 name, and which, jutting out into the bay, afforded 

 a delightful view of the ocean, he fixed his resi- 

 dence ! There^ in the midst of forests of oak, lau- 

 rel and palmetto, the growth of centuries, his man- 

 sion-hou*e was erected. There stood the laboratory, 

 with its apparatus for chemical 'experiments the 

 library, stored with works of science in various 

 tongues: there bloomed the nursery for exotics; 

 and there was found each other appliance with 

 which taste and intelligence surround the abodes 

 of wealth. It is melancholy to reflect on the utter 

 destruction that followed ; even before the venera- 

 ble proprietor had been gathered to his fathers! 

 The ocean swallowed up everything; and it is 

 literally true, that the sea monster now flaps his 

 wings over the very spot where his hearth-stone 

 was placed where the rites of an elegant hospi- 

 tality were so unstintedly dispensed and where the 

 delighted guest listened to many an instructive 

 anecdote, and unrecorded yet significant incident of 

 the revolutionary period, as they flowed from the 

 cheerful lips of the patriot. It argues no defect of 



