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public meetings of the academy: but it is said that an echo is 
heard in case of loud speaking, which renders the voice of the 
speaker unintelligible. 
Under the,rotunda are three elliptical halls, the destination of 
which is not yet entirely determined. The set of columns on 
the outside of this building* I was told is to be a very fine one; 
the capitals were made in Italy. 
As for the rest, the ten buildings on the right and left are not 
at all regularly built, but each of them in a different manner, so 
that there is no harmony in the whole, which prevents it from 
having a beautiful and majestic appearance. 
The garden walls of the lateral building are also in crooked 
lines, which gives them a singular but handsome appearance. The 
buildings have been executed according to Mr. Jefferson’s plan, 
and are his hobby; he is rector of the University, in the construc¬ 
tion of which the state of Virginia is said to have laid out consi¬ 
derable sums of money. 
We addressed a gentleman whom we met by chance, in order 
to get some information, and we had every reason to be satisfied 
with his politeness. It was Dr. Dunglison, professor of medicine. 
He is an Englishman, and came last year with three other pro¬ 
fessors from Europe. He showed us the library, which was 
still inconsiderable, and has been provisionally arranged in a 
lecture room; it contained some German belles lettres works, 
among others a series of Kotzebue’s calendar of dramatical works. 
It was said a great quantity of books was coming from Europe. 
The university is situated On a hill in a very healthy situation, 
and there is a very fine view of the Blue Ridge. President Jef¬ 
ferson invited us to a family dinner; but as in Charlotteville 
there is but a single hackney-coach, and this being absent, we 
were obliged to go the three miles to Monticello on foot. 
We went by a pathway, through well cultivated and enclosed 
fields, crossed a creek named Rivanna, passing on a trunk of a 
tree cut in a rough shape, and without rails; then ascended a 
steep hill overgrown with wood, and came on its top to Mr. Jef¬ 
ferson’s house, which is in an open space, walled round with 
bricks, forming an oblong, whose shorter sides are rounded; on 
each of the longer sides are portals of four columns. 
The unsuccessful waiting for a carriage, and our long walk, 
caused such a delay, that we found the company at table when 
we entered; but Mr. Jefferson came very kindly to meet us, 
forced us to take our seats, and ordered dinner to be served up 
anew. He was an old man of eighty-six years of age, of tall sta¬ 
ture, plain appearance, and long white hair. 
In conversation he was very lively, and his spirits, as also his 
hearing and sight, seemed not to have decreased at, all with his 
