Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1860-06-16
EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENTS.
TOMB or WASHINGTON, |
Nav 26th, 1860.

morning | am in time aud have succeeded
In reaching Alexandria BIZ 10 o'clock, III
company with about one hundred persons,
the male portion Of whom are classed as
follows those who are editors and tho-e
who arc not. The former are known by
their shabby appearance, by their impru-
dent inquisitiveness and by their note books
with pencils ever in hand; the latter class
are distinguished by their Indifference to
all that is venerable and beautiful and by
their display Of more gold than brains
The two classes, including the ladies, are
necessary in the work Of propelling this
globe through sunshine and darkness.
The sky is dappled, giving atinge Of red
ness to yoluminous scenery and purpling
the waters; the reflected lines and shades
are thereby deepened; nature is dressed in
ninks and light canopy without any visi-
bic sun is above. Those Of us having free
passes are therefore the happ;est Of mortals
the other class may be happy but the sur
rounding beauties appear to. affect them as
mourning weeds, for they look as solemn as
owls-except the Captain Of this craft,
whose face is bright With good humor and
rum.
.Aleraadyta, not Of cid Greece in the
land Of Cecrops, but Of Hail Golumbia-twc
miles beyond the Constantiuople Of Amer.
ca, is a city Of departed importance, Of acc
and decay, and yet as ever, is surrounded
with scenery Of eternal youthfulness. The
islands rising in her bosom and the distant
ruins Of rich but tl1oughtless ancestors
breathe that air of solitude which charms
and exhilarates the poet, but which breed
drowsiness in Young America. | am not
| therefore surprised at the legitimate effects
Persons Of strong home attractions but
without business anxiety; persons who live
for the sake ofliying and love what is charm
ing, even though such objects are among
the wrecks Of empire; natural poets, natur-
al antiquarians and natural fools-all such
cluster in and around Alexandria- 9TH
eis push out as if by centrifugal force and
seek homes away from these absolute soli-
tudes.
Unconscious Of being humorous %hile on
my way down the Potomac toward the head
Of patriotic navigation; where lie entombed
the ashes Of GEORGE WAsHING1eN, | am
vet filed with curious and even ludicrous
inaginations. Simple thoughts rather than
wise things arise, and | am unable to sup
press them. For example: at my first in
PRODUCTION to the Potomac, river Of local
attractions and history about equal with the
Hudson but inferior to the Mississippi, [
felt as one about to commit matrimopy; at
first sight / loved tho widow Potomac,
whose sous are swelling hills and whose
daughters are shadowed fales-whose IS
lands are Of Venetian beauty and whose
streanlets ever leap and laugh at the feet
Of her whom | would we'd. Had Lord BY
ron visited and wrote Of Alexandria and
her neghboring islands, daughters Of the
Potomac, instead Of pestilential Venice and
the Bay Of Naples, his tomb might now be
shrine, wreathed with glory and surround
ed by pilgrims ike thai ofti.e great Wash
ington. Poor Byron Ills mistaken de-
yotion to what was bound to be forgotten,
uptript his name all fame; better had his
poetic gliding been spared for the new world
whore paintings and rhymes pay Of com
pound interest.
AT twelve o'clock, we arrived a Vernon
Landing, a quarter Of mile from the tomb.
The ascent through vale and vines is easy
a board walk, sufficient for two abreast, has
been laid for the accommodation Of pill
grins; weak limbs are forgotten and all are
made stout BY the prospect.
There are no rnarshals and no commands,
vet order and silence prevail as at the fune-
raj Of a parent. Slowly and in order, in
solemn muteness, uncovered and in meas
ured step, we form in line and in pairs
march to the tomb. Approaching the iron
barred doors, all took solemn look at the
marble sarcophagus, wherein repose the re-
mains Of Washington. A similar marble
case contains the remains Of Martha Wash
ington, few feet distant; an iron door
opens into sealed vault, wherein rest 9th
ers Of the Washington family. Outside
the tomb are monuments covering two 9th
ers, an uncle and nephew Of George. On
II the marble cases Of George and Martha
can be seen; the walls inclosing the tomb
in front and the vault in the rear are Of
brick; the height is ten feet width twenty
feet and depth thirty.
While assembled round the tomb, the eff
feet varied with different ones, but solemn