The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1856-11-20


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F'am7 LANCASTER, November 1856. Z
1 Wheatland, or rather Mr.. Buchanan's
house, lies abolk mile from Lancaster. -
Those who remember the Hermitage, Ash
Eland and Marsh6elJ, pre- not;surprised, on
Approaching il, to find that the great Demo.
cratic statesman has selected for his retreat
spot SO quiet and SO resplendent with nat
ural lovelinessss shat it would appear next
Ito impossible sfor the noise and hustle Of
the world toRepetrate there. / was remind
ed by it, of ~ dwelling in the midst Of a
highly cultivated oAGping, which / once
saw in the far west Fragrance filed the
atmosphere, and the silence was unbroken,
excepting by the. gentle rustli9g OF leaves,
as the trees were Ogitated by the wind -
The thick foliage prevents close scrutiny
OF Mr.. Buchanan's dwelling until after ad.
I vancing through the gate,, some distance
from the road. 1t is a wide, two. story,
double brick house, painted red, with wings,
broad, pleasant entrance and wide hail. at
the extremity Of which latter, passage
leads into the left wing, which is occppied
by Mr.. Buchanan as a, study. Here he re.
ceives the greater part Of his visitors.iI A
negro servant ushered US into this room, and
informed US that " Mr.. Buchanan would be
with us in a few minutes" 1t seems he had
lady callers, whose voices from the drawing-
room quite annihilated the idea Of "bache-
lor" residence. Meanwhile we {" looked
around;" and, as two sides OF the plain but
comfortable apartment were partially occu
pied by book cases, endeavored to pick up
some notion of the probable literary tastes
of the owner. Many of the works in the Ii
brary were Of a religious characters Odd
numbers OF the Presbyterian laid strewed
about, and putting that and that together"
we came to the conclusion that Mr.. Buchan.
an belonged to that staid and respectable de.
nomination. A table in the centre of the
room was covered with pamphlets, and in va
rious parts of it were easy chairs, not too lux
urous to labor in, covered with green moroc-
co. Various stumps of cigars around the fire.
place indicated addiction to the weed, ard
my companion and myself were engaged in
discussing the probabilities respecting the
past proprietorship of guild on the hearth,
when quick, heavy tread in the hail warn
ed us to put on our most demure and innocent
looks, as we were about to see the next
President ofthe United States. .sH s'a
The first remark of stranger concerning
Mr.. Buchanan, would naturally be, "What
fine old English gentlemann' / had been
introduced to him many years ago at Gads.
by's Hotel in Washington; but the inter
view then was of short duration. This time
had possession of him ses eral hours. One
of the first remarks he made, ELECTED by the
presentation of a New York caricature, was,
that the portraits which had been made Of
him during the CANVASS were mostly all Carl
caiures; that "those who had not seen, him
must Imagine him, from his etiigies, TO be as
grum as an ogre, whereas he had scarcely
ever known an uncheer(ul moment in his
life." In fact, in spite of the weight Of re.
sponsibility he evidently feels, his counter.
ance is the mirror Of happy thoughts, and q
benignant disposition. He looks hale,
temperate man Of sixty, Of massive intellect,
hard, undaunted energy; but with caution
as the predominant trait of his moral and in
tellectual character. | judged him to be one
of those naturally impetuous, daring charac-
ters who, by practical experience Of the fol-
ly Of yielding to impulse, has gradually &C.
quired the habit Of waiting for "sober second
thoughts" to check and govern his every &C.
ton. His couDtenance shows this. Occa.
sionally his face will tighten up, both Of
his large blue eyes will distend, and listen
ers are compelled to sink. their gaze before
his profound, scrutinizing look, Suddenly,
however, one of his eyes half closes, his
head slightly inctines towards one side, and
every word appears to be weighed in the
balance before it is uttered. You always
find that you are .conversing with an emphati-
cally great man, and his unpretending, un.
ostentatious simplicity adds rather than de-
tracts from this impression, while his unaf-
fected amiability and hospitality win your
heart, even where the Judgment has resolved
to make resistance. lam Republieanand
he is a Democrat; but I pay this willin.
tribute, that he approaches as nearly. 10 my,
ideal Of a gentlemansof the old school as
any one it has ever been my good fortune to
meet. .+".'' "s't
Mr.. Buchanan was kind enough to make
me acquainted with his n.ice, the presiding
grace ofhs fair domains; and, ,butthat the sin
cerest homage to beauty, innocence and eve
ry virtue and charm which can adorn high
minded and intelligent young lady, is re-
spectlulsilence, ] would endeavor to show
how grossly they have erred who have ridi,
culed, as d bachelor establishment, the fu-Y
.ture domestic arrangement Of the White
House. g8.is 4sga maslj bpa{it s.,4s
r. Perhaps one of the strongest feelings
which burn within the breast OF Mr.. Buch