New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-04-03

chOIed ~ mar Tue ldnu dr PpsriD!r' auu INC pr
,4reer, thence taken ashore in s Email boat. For
trips were required for this purpose; and though
n boatuen lcsped into the water and dragged
thsr heavy .d,n craft further backward than
she could otherwise be propelled, and, after tn"
male passenger. lesped ashore, dragged her still
frihet I'D. TO afford dryer landing to thu lades
II = a. st quite primitive sort OF debarkatiOn
By Noon we we're al ashore, and traversng 'be
dilspidated board walk which winds through
p It's ravine Up the wooced river bank to the tomb
and the house al the great DEPARTED.
II cannot be many yesrs-say six or eigbt-since
nv former visit: yet the march Of ruin in the in
term has been fearfGly rapid. / doubt whether
FIVE hundred dollars worth of building, fencing.
ri airing, reDoyating, have been bestowed on tse
estate since General Washington died, more than
fny-six years ago. All the fences in sight from
the Mansion are in the last stage Of decay; the
plants sLd shrubbery have sadly fallen away; the
negro.huts and barn are very far gone; aud the
Whole place fas an aspect OF f)rlorn neediness
which no description can adequately paint. Even
the new and spacious brick tomb-the contribution
of patriotic and opulent Philadel phian some
twenty odd years agO-is beginning to crumbe
away, whether from faulty construction or mere
sympathy with all around, | will not say. The
tasteful marble sarcophagi in which repOse the
M rial +, mains of George and Martha Washington
alone maintain their freshness but let the protect
ing structure crunble away, and they too must
Weld to the tooth Of Time The woods which
closely approach the tomb are full Of fallen, de-
csyng trees as we'll as tangled with brers; the
soil of the garden and level, untimbered grounds,
was evidently once fertile and productive, but now
is in the last stages Of exhaustion and sterlllty.
Tie mansion (Which in good part was kindly
thrown open to u.s. is in little better preserva
ton the carpets and foOr-coths are evidently
those on which the Father of his country trod;
some paintings aud engrayings which were familiar
TO him still line the walls of room v hich was only
opened 10 a few of Us; the key of the Baste still
hangs in the hail. with engraving of the storming
ofthtt dungeon by its sde and some other memen-
toes of the heroic days of our Republic, precious
mainly from our consciousness that the noblest
American once regarded them as his own but the
house itself is old and faded; it sadly needs paint
and vigorous renovation, in default of which it
must soon pass away. If left to take its chance,
doubt It's continuing habitable twentyf years
longer.
There are some alleviations to the general wreck
in this eptome of Old Virginia" OF the noble
trees that once shaded our National hero, some re-
main; fine English Holly (eyergreen) particularly
arrested my attention; and never saw more lux
urisnt specimens Of Box (the border shrub) than
line several garden walks, though the Gardens have
well nigh disappeared. This plant appears to
thrive by neglect, so that it seems pity that the
grounds had not been covered with it. There is
the ST allest possible amount of live stock on the
place, but very fair allowance of the great Viz
einis stsple-saye children-whose probable des-
tna,ion is the cane region of Louisiana aud Texas.
speak Of course from no knowledge with regard TO
these particular children, but only of the general
ter dency in this quarter. Some fDe trees recently
cut down for timber evince an awkwardness In the
Use of the axe which must be- seen to be realized.
If the estate is soon to become public property,
the telling of these trees is National misfortune.
Nothing that still has life here should be cut down
until the expected transfer shall have been made
or the ntgotiat on abandoned.
And trust it uM be made 1t were unreasona
bic and wrong to expect the present owner or own
ers-who are understood not to be wealthy-tO
keep their estate as this should be kept without
recompense for the outlay. America has no right
TO impose such tax on the heirs Of George WASH
ipgton Ard, on the other hand, they o1ght not 10
think of driving hard bargain with those Who
seek 10 render il fit and perpetual memorial OF MIN
who was First in War, and in Peace as well.
| believe the Mount Vernon estate consists Of
about twelve hundred acres, which, if 1t were
not Mount Vernon, could hardly find a
purchaser in its present condition at thirty
dollars per acre. If public gratitude should
double this rate, profiering $4,000 for the proper
ty, they ought not to exact or ask for more. Then
let large portion Of the remoter land be sold OF
for what it will fetch and apply the proceeds put
ting the hundred or two acres next the river into the
very best condition. Now let the keeping of Mt.
Vernon be confded TO some disabled veteran who
has deserved well Of his country, and when he dies
to another such, and let a small payment be ex-
acted of each visitor in order 10 keep everything in
tie very highest condition, and thus let good I'M
der-keepers be at all times in attendance guests,
to watch and check every impulse to that mean
SPIRIT of appropriation which has doubtless con-
tribu,ed TO bring the place toto its present runous
condition. One lady G. breaks twig here and
another pulls flower there to serve as memorial
of Mount Vernon; and the result is great accel-
GRAFTON of the work of ruin.
Fellou-country msnl LET lis try 10 render Mount