The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1859-02-16
An Appeal for Mount Vernon.

land and arouse new interest and zeal in a Clio
rious cause. 1t is proper to state the "South.
ron Matron," in signing her baptismal name tc
this document, yielded to the solicitations OF
Mr.. Everett and other friends
MT. VERNON, THE PROPERTY OF THE NATION.
It is with feelings of the highest ~gratiica-
} ton we announce to the public, that the per-
severing efforts of the Ladies' Mount Vernon
Association of the Union have been crowned
with success commensurate with their sacred
aims and lofty patriotism, and that they have
at least secured to the American people the
privilege of making the Home and Grave of
Washington tie property Of the Nation !
On the failure of the Mount Vernon bill in
the General Assembly of Virginia, we renewed
our overtures to Mr.. Washington to sell the
property of the Association. These overtures
met with a favorable response, and on the 9th
OF April, a contract was signed by Mr. Wash
ington, which obliged him to transfer Mount
Vernon to the Association, on its compliance
with the following terms, viz:
The payment of two hundred thousand dol
lars, for two hundred acres of land, iae4u4fng
the mansiaaa-e--1-fts f~anding-place, and, above
all, the tomb.
Eighteen thousand dollars to be paid on
closing CT contract, and the remainder of the
sum in four bonds, payable in yearly INSTALL
t bJtI uTUtcU
the first bond, to pay to Mr.. Washington any
amount of the balance due, in sums of not
less than five thousand dollars, which sums will
be credited to the Association in this manner
lessening the interest.
The title to the estate and possession to be
given on payment of the principal and interest;
and the privilege also granted of obtaining
possession, on thirty days notice, at any time
the Association may be ready to furnish the en-
tire purchase-moneg.
The price asked for Mount Vernon BY its
proprietor, and which has never varied, has
long been known to the public, and the ladies
of the Mount Vernon Association, in offering
to become it's purchasers, could not expect to
acquire at upon other terms than those given
as the ultimatum to Congress and to Virginia.
Yet there is a concession made to the Asso-
citation by Mr.. Washington, as. to the extension
of time and Il very important p1OUiSO, to save
interest, which can best be explained by the
following letter addressed to the legal gentle
men who negotiated the purchase on behalf of
the Association:
"RIcHMoND, April 7, 1853.
U1zzian, III. Nacfarland, Esq, and Gen
eral 4. A. Chapman:
"GENTLEMEN In the negotiation you have
concluded with me, on behalf of the
Ladies Association for the purchase of Mount
Vernon, the payment of interest on the defer
red insta!ments from the date of the contract,
while I retained 70 Sc S on of the properly,
was the only serious difficulty between us.
"Having satisfied you thai L could not Weld {
point, you finally conceded it.
Gas the contract is now closed, and / believe i
in a satisfactory way to both parties, it affords
me pleasure to say to you, that if the Associa- Z
meet its engagements with me on the {
of January, 1859, and thinks proper to {
pay, and does pay the other deferred install {
ments, on or before the 22d of February, 1859, >
as you inform me they will probably be both /
willing and able to do it, it is my intention, in l
that case, to remit to the Association 1.-THE in l
terest on all the deferred payments. |
''This l shall be willing to do, partly as an l
to the Association to obtain posses l
sion of Mount Vernon at an early day, but
more particularly, as an evidence of my appro- 1
citation of the motives that have actuated the
Association in the cause it has under
taken. l.
81 have the honor to be, gentlemen, i
with the highest respect, L
"Your obedient servant,
John A. WASHINGTON" L
More than half a century has now elapsed i
since Washington walked among us-a half a q
century of neglect and ingratitude to his mem :
Dry. Between the broken pledges of Congress, b
md the apathy of his mother State, the re- a
of the Father of his Country have laid 7
by the mausoleum voted in the -FOUR h
If a Nations grief, and his Home and Grave II
eft to the fate of private property, and Access IL
the public only through the forbearance II
" courtesy of its various private owners! d
Ever and anon, a voice was heard TO protest b
lgainst republican ingratitude, for, ever and u
mon, the heart of this great nation seemed to Z
hrob with a remembrance of his virtues and of a
MS services, and the priceless legacy he be- q
.ucathed. But, during the stern struggles of Q
young Republic, this voice was unheeded,
since America became Il power on earth,
t was either silenced by the din of party and
.ectional strife, or stifed by the murmurs of o
until the generations, which knew d
lin not, were in danger of forgetting and whoi- il
y departing from those PrinciDtes which are a
he bulwark of our greatness, and those warning 4
which can alone maintain our Union in
afety. Butthat Providence which has so often
for our rescue in the darkest days of s,
he Republic, when the Ship of State, with no te
naster-hand at the helm, rocked to and fro on v
he angry waves of sectional strife and bitter IL
which threatened to ingulf it, has stirred Il
he heart of woman to revive, through the c.
escue of the sacred ashes of the Father of his lie
COUNTRY, that love for his memory, slumbering, o
tut not dead, which could be made all poacertuL, d
n regenerating and healing influences! e.
A call was made to The aconen of the South, ii
gather around his grave and became the e.
Iestals to keep alive the fires of patriotism +,
he motives were pure-the intentions gener- VI
they failed. Ye, who watch the P
igns of the times, know We not wherefore? ? m
Washington belonged not alone to the South! el
Again the call was made, and this time to W
he tconlen Of the nation. Again it failed!- H
nd wherefore? til
The title and ell the pourer mere to he gtreae pr
. a State; and Washington belonged not to p
ne State alone. 4
Devoted woman would be neither baf1ed nor
But she only ~triumphs when the
ommon homestead can be procured as a COM
ION heritage for the estranged children of a
father, the spell of whose memory
ill yet have the power to reunite them around
Is hallowed sepulcher.
Unexpected success has crowned her efforts.
bur country can be saved, one and indissoluble