16 
VOYAGE OF THE POTOMAC. 
[June, 
body, the eternal verdure of the former furnishes a beautiful 
emblem of the immortal spirit." 
La Fayette's visit to the tomb of Washington, as described by 
M. Levasseur, is interesting and touching. " As we approached," 
says he, " the door of the tomb was opened. La Fayette de- 
scended alone into the vault, and a few minutes after he re- 
appeared with his eyes overflowing with tears. He took his son 
and myself by the hand, and led us into the tomb, where by a 
sign he indicated the coffin of his paternal friend, alongside of 
which was that of his companion in life, united for ever to him 
in the grave. We knelt reverently near his coffin, which we 
respectfully saluted with our lips; rising, we threw ourselves 
into the arms of La Fayette, and mingled our tears with his." 
"Flow gently, Potomac! thou washest away 
The sands where he trod, and the turf where he lay, 
When youth brush'd his cheek with her wing ; 
Breathe softly, ye wild winds, that circle around 
, That dearest, and purest, and holiest ground, 
Ever pressed by the footprints of spring. 
Each breeze be a sigh, and each dewdrop a tear. 
Each wave be a whispering monitor near. 
To remind the sad shore of his story ; 
■ , And darker, and softer, and sadder the gloom 
Of that evergreen mourner that bends o'er the tomb,. 
Where Washington sleeps in his glory." 
Brainard. 
The subject of this digression will naturally plead its excuse. 
While lying in sight of Mount Vernon in a ship-of-war, compri- 
sing within her oaken walls more effective force than the whole 
American navy could display at the time this beautiful spot first 
received the name it bears, such reminiscences occurred too 
forcibly to the mind to be passed unnoticed. But the anchor 
was again weighed, and our new ship-of-vVar soon left Mount 
Vernon far in the distance. 
' After a passage of several days, requiring great vigilance, and 
without encountering any serious accident, the Potomac came to 
anchor on the afternoon of the 23d June in Hampton-Roads, 
about eight miles below Norfolk, which is the most commercial 
town of Virginia, and is defended by several forts, the most im- 
