Litchfield enquirer., 1866-08-23
Hlisfellanp.
GENERAL KNOX.

Hefos7s lE :. GENERAL KNOX.
 The following excellent sketch of that revo- lutionary worthyby Hawthorne appeared in the Atlantic Monthly. The moral of his story is by no maans uninstruc,ive. r- .l
 MAINE, SARuRDAY August, l2th.--"Walk- ed with Ciiley to see General Knox's old ,nansion.--a large rusty looking edifce of wood, with some grandeur in the architecture, sta, ding on the banks of river, close by the site ofan old battle-ground, and near where an ancient fort had been erected for defence against tbe French and India ns. Gen. Knox once owned square of thirty miles in this part of the country and he wished to settle it with tenantry, alter the fashion of English gentlemen. He would permit DO edi6ce to be erected within certain distance of his man. sion. His patent covered, of course, the whole present town of Thomaston, with Waldobo- rough and divers other fourishing commercial and country villages, and would have been of
 ncalculable value could it have remained un- broken to the present time. But the general lived in grand style, and received visitors from foreign parts, and was obliged to part with large tracts of his possessions, till now there
 is but little left but the ruinous mansion and the grounds immediately around it. His tomb stands near the house,-a spacious acceptable, an iron door at the end of turf-covered mound and surmounted by an obelisk of the Thomaston marble. There are inscriptions to the memory of several of his family for he had many children, all of whom are now dead, except one daughter. a widow of fifty, recently married to Hon. John H.. There is 8 stone fence round the monument On the out side of this are the gravestones, and large, flat tombstopes of the ancient bnrial-ground,- the tombstones being of red freeatone, with vacant spaces. formerly iplaid with slate, on which were the inscriptions, and perhaps coats- of arms. One of these spaces was in the shape of heart The people of Thomaston were very wrathful that the general should have laid out his grounds over this old burial. place i; and he dared never throw down the the grave stones, though his wife, a naughty English lady, often leased him to do SO. But when the old General was dead, Lady Knox las they called her) caused them to be prostrated. as they now lie. She was a woman of violent passions, and 80 proud and aristocratic, that. as long as she livei, she would never enter any house in Thomaston except her own = When a married daughter was i'll, she used to go in her carriage to the door, and send up and inquire how she did. The General was personally very popular; but his wife ruled him. The house and it's vicinity, and the whole tract covered by Knox's patent, may be taken as an Illustration of what must be the result of American schemes of aristocracy. It is not forty years since this house was built, and Knox was in his glory; but now the house is ell in decay, while within stone 8 throw of it there is a street of smart white ed- i6ces oe one and two stories, occupied chiefly by thriving mechanics, which has been laid out where Knox meant to have forests and parks. On the banks of tue river, where he intended to have only one wharf for his West Indian vessels and yacht, there are two wharveS, with stores and lime kiln. Littl, appertains to the mansion, except the tomb and the old burial ground. aHd the old fort --. !,
 The decendants are all poor, and the in heritance was merely sufficient to make a dssipated and drunken fellow of the one Of the old Generals sons who survived to middle a-e. The mans habits were as bad as possi- ble as long as he had any money; but when quite ruined, he reformed. The daughter, the only survivor among Knox's children, (herselt childless, is mild, amiable woman, therein totally differing from her mother. Knox, when he first visited his estate, arriving in vessel, was waited upon by deputatlon of the squatters, who had resolved to resist h;m to death. He received them with genial courte- sy, made them dine with him aboard the yes sel, and sent them back to their constituents in great love and admiration for him. He used 60 have vessel running to Philadelphia, think and bringing him all sorts of delicacies His way of raising money was to give a mortgage on his estate of hundred thousand dollars at 8 time, and receive that nominal amount in goods, which he would immediately sell at auction for perhaps thirty thousand. Knox was an incorrigible forIna;ist ant Jefferson gave a very amusing account o Washington's. first levee held under his aus pices, which we quote from Irvings Life O Washington.
 "An ante-chamber and presence-room were provided, and when those who were to pay their court were assembled, the President se out proceeded by Humphreys. .,. 4s.t Alter passing through the ante-chamber tht door of the inner room was thrown open ane l Humphreys entered first, calling out in loue voice, 'The President of The United States. 1 The President was so disconc certed with Il that he did not recover in the whole time o ! the Ievee, and, when the company was gone
 he said to Humphreys, We'll, you have taker
 me in once, but by--, you shall never take
 me in second time."