Visit to Mount Vernon. 251 



and not contrast, should soothe rather than excite ; almost all 

 will assent to this, and yet these things are almost invariably 

 garish and offensive. 



I dismissed my attendant and walked over the lawn ; it slopes 

 gently towards the river for a short distance, when it falls away 

 suddenly and is covered with a dense wood, which belts in what 

 may properly be called " the lawn." The house is high above 

 the river, and looks over an extensive prospect to the east, and 

 also commands a distant and beautiful view down the river. The 

 exterior is very well shown in most of the common repre- 

 sentations of it that I have seen, and (except that the wood is in 

 imitation of stone) is altogether a fine mansion, and in good 

 keeping with the place. The keys, with the woman, were waiting 

 for me on the piazza ; she showed me into the library of General 

 Washington, which is still used as such by his descendants. I 

 looked to see the books that he used, the chair that he sat in, 

 the table, the drawings, the pictures that were his, but they were 

 not there ; and I learned, with regret, that these many little 

 evidences of his character and taste had been dispersed among 

 his relations and friends. The key of the Bastile, which was 

 given to him by La Fayette, hangs in the hall (an offering at the 

 shrine of freedom), and is almost the only little thing that was 

 shown to me as his. I wished, and expected to find, as much as 

 might be, every thing preserved in the same state as when he 

 lived, but all seems and is changed. The great room, on the 

 north of the house, which was used as a dining-room on state 

 occasions, and is, for this country, a large well-proportioned 

 apartment, is ornamented by a mantelpiece of coloured marbles, 

 which was presented to Washington by the officers (or some of 

 them) of the British army ; it has three very pretty bas-reliefs, 

 representing rural and agricultural scenes ; but I could get no 

 particulars beyond this. 



The house contained little to interest, and I soon turned my 

 steps to the gardens; these, as I mentioned, are both walled. 

 The flower-garden is laid out in right angles, and is bordered 

 with box, which has now grown large; every thino- was un- 

 trimmed, and showed a want of care. The greenhouse contains 

 some fine orange and lemon trees, some pomegranates and bays, 

 and a few aloes and other plants ; but they are all crowded, and 

 want the hand of a master and an amateur. 



A number of suggestions have been made relative to the pur- 

 chase of this estate (or a part of it, including the house) for some 

 national purpose: it is a place that interests all Americans, 

 and it is desirable that some feeling of love and veneration for 

 that which is good or beautiful in itself or by association should 

 be preserved and (with us) encouraged. We do not look back, 

 but ever forward, and we either fail to see, or else neglect, the 



