Maumee City express. [volume] (Maumee City, Ohio) 1838-184?, 1838-09-01
CITY, OHIO, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER n, d,

Mount Vernon, wound through the shelter OIL
the woods, SO that we recovered a little from
the extreme cold before we reached the house.
! The land appears to be quite impoverished;
the fences and gates appear 10 be in bad order;
much Of the road was swampy, and the poor
young lambs, shiverihg In the biting wind
seemed to look round in vain for shelter and
care. The conseryatories were almost in ru-
ins, scarcely single pane of glass being unbro-
ken; and the house looked as if il had not been
paintedfor years. Little negroes peeped at us
from behind the, pillars of the piazza as we
drove up. We alighted in silence, most Of US
beng probably occupied with the thought Of
who bad been there before lis; what crowds Of
the noble, the wise, the good, had come hither
to hear the yet living voice of the most unim-
peachable Of patriots. As lookedupI almost
expected to see him stand in the doorway
My eyes had rested on the image his remark
able countenance in almost every house ] had en-
tered; and here, in his own dwelling, one could
not but look for the living face with something
more thanthe eye of the imagination. cared
far less for any ofthe things that were shown
me in the house than to stay in the piazza next
the garden, and fancy how here walked in me-
ditation,or stood looking abroad over the beau
liiul river, and pleasing his eye with a far dif-
ferent spectacle from that of camps and con-
ventions.
Many prints Of British landscapes, residen-
ces, and events are hung up in the apartments.
The ponderous key of the Baste still figures
in the hall, in extraordinary contrast with eve
Try thing else in the republican residence. The
Bible in the library is the only book of Wash
| ington's now left. The best likeness of the
great man, known to all travellers from the
oddness Of the material on which it is preserv-
ed, is to be seen here, sanctioned thus by the
testimony of the family. The best likeness of
Washington happens to be on common pitch
er. AS soon as this was discovered, the whole
edition Of pitchers was brought up. Once or
twice saw the entire vessel locked up in a
cabinet, or in some such way secured from ac-
cident; but most of Its possesors have, like the
family, cut out the portrait and had it framed.
The walk, planned and partly finished du-
ring Washington's life, the winding path on
the verge of the green slope above the river,
must be very sweet in summer. The beauty
of the situation of The place surprised me.
The river was nobler, the terrace finer, and
the swelling hills around more varied than ]
had imagined; but their is a painful air of des-
olaton over the whole. wonder how it
struck the British officers in 1914, when in
passing up the river on their bandit expedition
to burn libraries and bridges, and raze senate
chambers, they assembled on deck, aud unco-
vered their heads as they passed the silent
dwelling ofthe great man who was not there
to testify his disgust at the service they were
upon. If they knew what 1t was that they
were under orders to do, it would have been
creditable to them as men to have mutinied in
front of Mount Vernon. a-sf-s ..-l.t
The old tomb from which the body of Wash
ington has been removed ought to be oblitera-
ted or restored. IL is too painful to eelit as
it is now, the brickwork mouldering, and the
paling broken and scattered. The red cedars
still overshadow it, and il is a noble resting
place. Every one would mourn to see the low
house destroyed, and the great mans cham
Der of dreamless sleep made no longer sacred
from the common tread; but anything is bet
ter than the air of neglect which now wounds
the spirit ofthe pilgrim. The body lies, with
that Of Judge Washington In vault near, in
more secluded but far less beautiful situation
than that on the verge of the Potomac. The
river is not seen from the new vault, and the
erection isvery sordid. tits of red brick, with
an iron door, and looks more like an oven than
anything else, except for the stone slab, bear
ing funeral text, which is inserted over the
door. The bank which rises on one side is
planted with cedars, pines, and sprinkling Of
beech and birch, so that the vault is overshad-
owed in summer, as the places Of the dead
should be-. The president told me that the des-
olaiion about the tomb was cause ofuneasi
ness, to himself and many others; and that be
had urged the family, as the body had been al
ready removed from its original bed, to permit
it to be inferred in the centre of the Capitol.
They very naturally clung to the precious pos
session; and there is certainly something much
more accordant, with the spirit of the man in
grave under the tiles Of his own home than in
magnifi cent shrine, but however modest
the tomb may be--were, it only such a green
hillock as every rustic lies under--it should
bear tokens ofreverent care. The grass and
shade which heS,so much loved are the only
ornaments needed; the absence of all that can
offend the eye and hurt the spirits Of reverence
is all that the patriot and the pilgrim require.
Before we reached the crazy bridge, ,whichit
had been difficult enough to pass 10 the NOR
ming, the sweet Potomac lay in clear moonshine,
and the lights around the Capitol twinkled from
afar.i On arriving at our fireslde, we found
how delightful a total change of mood some
times is.e, Tea, letters, and English newspa-
I,pers awaited us; and they were:a surprising
solace, chilled or feverish as we were with the
intense cold and strong mental excitement aen Of
the day. 500 s,.ii 81 =, ;i1I S s,,si eg,so
lsgb as LIFE In MISSOURI 3tg,i
Eamsi 9Vn9g sl,i CLASSIC NANgs.99sfa ie} eae1
| In one of those long journeys to a frontier