Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1873-07-10
Headquarters Sale.

y
stately affair, nor yet entirely mean
but were it absolutely nothing of it,
self, its temporary occupancy by
Washington at a critical period OF the
war would consecrate it as long as it
stood. Bret Harte went out to pay
this old Revolutionary shrine a rever-
entail visit, prior to its becoming the
sport of the hammer; and while Civ.
ing rein to its tortuous fancies that
run so swiftly around the sunny and
shady sides Of hisnature, he surrender
ed at last to the power of the single
class Of associations which people the
spot to which his pilgrimage was bent.
There are many Washington Head
quarters still remaining to remind us
Of a living past which History has not
wholly gathered into its shadows,
Those at Newburgh are we'll known.
Ours nearer home are most worthily
occupied. Connecticut boasts Of more
than one homely edifce, in which, as
in Lebanon and Weathersiield, the Pa
ter Patrle conferred with the leaders
Of the American and French forces,
and planned campaigns which were
far from being unfruitful of success.
The Morristown mansion was purchas-
ed by two or three gentlemen for $25,-
900, with the purpose Of turning it
over to the custody of the State with
out profit, if the latter chooses to be
come possessed Of it as a relic worthy
Of preservation. The. recent refusal,
in reconstructing St. Paul's Church, in
New York, to disturb the Washing
ton Pew alone, is a striking indication
of that feeling of profound reverence
with which every object is regarded
which he is associated with during the
period Of the Revolution and the ear
lier days of the Government. Bret
Harte gives forth some Characteristic
strokes in Inning the hero's magma
ny life during the stay in the house at
Morristown.
ut was at his window" says he,
"that the great commander stood, and
saw the mltinous Connecticut troops
file past and clamor for the wages long
due that he had not to bestow." Here
is the room in which he appealed to
the Jersey farmers, already impover
ished, for a few more weeks rations to
keep his standing army in the field.
He wrote that famous letter to Con
gross at this table. He was closcted
yonder with Lafayette. Hamilton,
whom in his moments Of unbendmg
he used to call ''my boy sat in this
very spot. Around him were small
pox and famine for discouraging com
panions. Sullivan, the turbulant, sat
here, and Howe was just across the
ice-flled river in New York, "Feasting
and iunketing." Even if these mem
orials of the Spartan days Of our re-
public are suffered to fade and pass in
to the frightening shadows Of obliv-
ion, it is well to keep alive the associ-
ations that clothe them so richly for
all minds not yet become strangers to
the genuine emotions Of patriotism.
Plain and simple as were the surround
ings Of the early heroes and patriots,
they formed a continental work with
their provincial means. Unconscious
ly they taught the world, to its latest
generation, that sefcontained freedom
is everywhere possible to man. There
is not a single relic of their day still
standing that does not preach the self
same discourse to their descendants
and inheritors Of the present time. 1t
is something higher and deeper than
any form of idoltary that prompts the
worship of these old dwellings which
once sheltered the Father of his Coun-
try. The head bows from an instinct
of the heart, as their sacred thresholds
are crossed. 1t was the feet of men
like Washington that have given the
barren Jerseys renown forever. This
old house at Morristown, with its low,
broad hall, is a transitory monument of
what human sentiment loves to Gle,
vate and honor. Washington's face
at its window is worth, as a mere
thought, score of expressionless ODE
lisks to his memory.