Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1875-07-26
EVENING STAR.
MONDAY..............Juiy re, ls.o.
ARLINGTON.

| ARLINGf0N.
Romance and Tragedy.
| AN OLD VIRGINIA MANSION oNTHE GRAND
| Old RIVER oF SWANS" THE HOME
| CHAT wAs) OF GEORGE WASHINGTON
PARkE CCsrIs, VIRGINIA GESrLEMAN
| AND A CURIOUS CHARACTER, NOW A Ma
| TloNAL CEMETERY, WHERE G6.0yO FED
| lRAL soLDIERs ARE BURIED.
| Correspondence Chicago Inter Oce1n.l
Beiow the broad portico that lets sun and
air into the dusty recesses OF the Congress
I sional library lies the city of Washington
aid ats environs, at just that proper distance
| which grants picturesquen without sac
| riticiDg distinctness. Fair a. ali the picture
/ is-fair enough 10 charm either friend or
Stranger, on no part OF il does the eye rest
| more gladly than where, its pillars aud por-
| stands
THE LoRDLY HOUSE OF ARLINGTON,
| framed by the blue Virginia woods. COM
| manning from Its emiaence the waters OF
| the Potomac, the 4" River of the swans" as
| The Indians called it. the house of Robert r
! Lee the burial ground OF 5000 soldiers. Ar
| nngton Is forever beautiful and famous
| Tie present house Is m0dern-comparattyalv
at least-for Gerge Washington Parke Gusts
| re never abbreviated sylIable) built IL in
| le"z after the fashion OF a temple in the ia
| nous rose scented city OF Postum. Hence
us us cassie 'front.', hence its noble proportions,
| It's wide portico and rows of DOric columns
| whose grandeur, alas, is but stuccO. and
| looks doubly mean. oH close inspection. when
| compared with it's lofty aspirations
Long before the stucco temple was uprear
| ed me estate OF Arlington existed, a geoaiy
oman OF over thousand acres. purCuaSef
| 10y John PSrke Gusts son of General WASH
| lnEton's wife, from the Fairfa xes and named
| Tor the Lord Arlll gton, who was one OF the
| notorious c y. II \. l.. CustlS claiming the
| rather questionable honor of remote cons
| tion with his Lordship. Whom this gentle
| man married know not. nor should 1 her
nalne disclose In view of the uncompli meut-
airy inference that may be drawn from the
| that though he was aged seventy-one when
ne dled, he yet lived but seven years, which
| was the space OF time he kept a bachelors
home at Arlington, on the eastern shore of
Virginia" His son, whom Washington
adopted, George Washington Parke Custis
inherited Arlington, and, as before said
| built the present house and Iivet there nntii
| short time before the war OF the rebellion
III is with him Arlington is chiefly associa-
| ted, and many are the friends this old Vir-
| glnia gentleman left behind him. He waS a
| man OF fine presence and irreproachable
manners, yersed In all the snowy, il some
what shallow, branches of learning then nom
| ular-a painter of mediocre capacity. a bet
| ter musician and excellent orator Indeed
| public speaking was his forte, and no Fourth
| of July in Fairfield county was ever com
plete without a speech from Mr.. Custis. 1t
delighted him to be noticed on such occa
slons-for he had harmless little sin of
| vanity, and his favorite salute raising his
| sonorous voice to its loudeSt tones, was,
"Fellow citizens"
| THE OLD ORATOR
has mounted the rostrum againi Indeai
| one effort of his-the funeral Grafton of a
| friend killed I'm the democrat and FEDERAL
| mob in Philadelphia-was SO good that all
me school readers Ilched extracts, and
much glory and edifcation. Not the small
est feather in George Washington Custis's
cap was his association with his illustrious
| namesake, and his favorite boast was that
OF being "a scion of Mount Vernon" and
having been brought up by George Wash
Ington; These early "reminiscences he aired
annually in the NuiO'ed IilteUtg,7lc,y that
publishing every 22d February from the date
OF It's appearance until his death, an article
| from Mr.. Custis.
Besides his speeches and few passable
poems he bequeathed to posterity number
| OF historical paintings from his own hand
which hung till recently In the great hall al
Arlington. He claimed TO be self-taught, |
believe, and these specimens settled the fact
beyond doubt.
Arlington was grand old place in those
| days. Guests came and went through all the
year. Artists, authors, visitors of rank and
genius gathered there, summoned and en-
tertained by the princely hospitality of a
| courteous and generous gentleman. Nor did
he lail In that severest test of good breeding
| po!iteneSS TO more humble tourists AT the
foot OF the hill ON which the bouse stands is
| a famous spring shaded by oak trees, whose
sweet, cool waters were Indeed an oasis ia
the desert to tired wa yfarers, ard favorlte
resort FOR picnic parties. Nothing pleased
| the old gentleman more than TO find such
gay gatherings around his spring, and pro-
vided they did rot injure his grounds they
| were al liberty to roam all over them. He
even built dancing pavilion near the
spring for these self-inyited guests and many
| q fair Virginia matron can remember when
Mr. GUSTS, fiddle IN hand, would suddenly
| appear in the midst of a picnic party and
bld The girls choose partners FOR a Virginia
reel.
But lackaday! After Mr.. George Wash
ington ParEe Custis died and was buried at
! his old home, Mt. Vernon, the good DAVIS
ended abruptly. Had he liyei to see The
war he would undoubtedly have been
staunch rebel, though he was opposet 10
slavery, and seconded faithfully the efforts
o; the Colonization Society. 1t was his only
child; the heiress OF Arlington, who had
married Robert +. Lee, who fed from d sr
beautiful home to follow her husbands for
tunes-Or mlsfortuneS.
Arlington was a melancholy sight then to
those vino had time to linger over senti-
ment. or course, many of the things had
been taken by the family. The more yalu-
able relics, such as Washington's plate,
furniture, rare old paintings by Nandyke,
kneller, and Copley, besides four original
portraits Of Washington by Peale HoII,ton
Mime. de Brienne, and Sharpless, were care.
fully removed by the old owners: but
| enough was left to give the house that for
| lOrn, deserted look which uutenanted half
| furnished houses have.
The United States government have con-
| nscated the estate in 1868, bought it, and in
| 1861 the 200 acres Immediately around the
house having been set apart for the purpose,
lG,COO soldiers were formally buried there.
TWO HUNDRED ACRES.
Think of IL, 200 acres, with IL. eco men, known
and unknown, black and white, from the
bloody fields OF the Wilderness, from the
green Shenandoah Valley, from Bull Run
and the shores of the Rappahannock, from
Richmond, from Petersburg, from Winches-
ter, from every plain and mountain OF the
Old dominion state, lying 50 close together
on That Virginia plan tatiOn that the little
head-stones look like long, unbroken lines,
and over the gateway of the rebel Generals
home are these words -. Here rest Is 1855 OF
the 3l5,55S citizens who died in defense of our
country from 1s61 TO 1865" There are over 400
rebels dead here also.
n lovelier spot than Arlington is now
would be hard 10 find. After making IL n
national cemetery the government improved
the estate vaStly-inteTsectedi IL with carriage
roads and turned the house in a resting place
for visitors, who can enjoy from the classic
porticO the finest view obtainable of Wash
ington city.
KAISER BIN ICU.-SOme of the anecdotes
about the eX- Emperor Ferdinand of AUSTRIA