The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1876-11-02
u,a,,orin, Correspondence

/ tIht N1lllbS " aNi'NA
a Turk would to become o Christian.
We left Cincinnati lust Saturday
night, travelled all night and awoke
next morning MS the sun was gliding
the mountain tops of West Virginia and
rejecting his image in the clear rivuiets
that wound round the base of the giant
hills of the for, SITS. Our route lny over
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, n q
more picturesque country than that
route expands cannot be found on this
continent. The scene of the Cheat riv-
err, the Allegheny Mountains, the OTTO
mac valley, Harper's Ferry 1.-THE She
nandoah river, is grand and soul>infpir-
ing, and wildly calls TO mind lie days
of blood and battle, when the armies of
the North and South were contending
for the mastery in those sections.
Two days of III time were given to
sightseeing in Washington-the most
charming city in the United States.
The first day was spent on q visit to
Mount Vernon, the home of the immor-
tai Gen. Geo. Washington. Mount
Vernon is situated ON the right bank of
the Potomac river, seventeen miles
--A-A-o fF~eioruh caPttni, IN .te
State of Virginia, and as the boats run
very slow q visit to it consumes most of
a day. Since leaving home we have be-
held rare sights, and stood before the
wealth of ali lands, but with lone were
we so well pleased as with the visit to
the home of Washington. There is
something about the place that fills one
with love to all men, and as we stood
before the sarcophagus enclosing the
remains of the Father of His Country,
we thought what a blessing it would be
if another Washington could live to
heal the wounds engendered by civil
war, which the malignant foes of the
South have but recently opened afresh
for party purposes and elf-aggrandize-
ment. Oh, that another man could
spring up in whom all the people
would have confdencel Were such a
thing possible what a glorious country
would be ours! No sectionalism, no
bitterness OR ill-feeling-one people,
bound together by a common tie.
But we are DEPRESSING. Mount YER
non is q lovely place, and as Everett
once said, "a visit to the Capital is but
half made unless it includes the hom-
and tomb of Washington" In going
up from the river, the first place passed
is the tomb, built of brick, with wide
arched gateway and double iron gates,
above which is the simple inscription,
"Within this enclosure rest the remains
of Gen. Geo. Washington" The tomb
contains about thirty bodies, the Wash
ingtons and relatives. From the tomb
to the residence an immense oak, three
hundred years old, and the old brick
barn, one hundred and fo~rty-three years
old, are passed. The residence is IN
odd looking structure, and in 1t are
shown many old relics. We remember
to have seen Washington's Bible, spy
glass, compass, sword, globe, clothing,
slde-Doora, Iooniug sl..zos, olJ~r.Jlc
furniture, his favorite chair, which was
brought to America in the Mayf1ower,
military equipments. letters. the bed
stead upon which he died, the room in
which his wife died, Lafayette's room,
etc. Numerous outhouses, and extern
sive flower gardens surround the house.
The place is now in charge of the
Mount Vernon Ladies Association,
who employ superintendent, guides,
guards and servants, and everything is
carefully protected. All honor to the
noble women!
There are many places of interest in
Washington, the Capitol, Executive
Mansion, Treasury Department, War.
Navy and State Departments, Postof-
flee, Patent Office, Department of Ag-
ri~culture, Government Printing Office,
Smithsonian Institution, Botanical
Gardens, Arlington Heights, etc. The
visitor can proftably spend three days
in Washington.
A description of the Centennial, one
that would convey any idea as to the
vast collection of articles from every
nation in the world, is simply ~impossi>
BILE. Each department is attended by
individuals in the costume of the nation
it represents; and thus the Egyptian,
che Turk, the japanese, the Chinese,
the Moor, the Persian, the Spaniard..
the Swiss, the Swede, the Russian, the
South American, the Pacific Islan>
der, is seen as in his own land, pursu>
ing his home avocations. The ~various
races are blended on a common ground,
exemplifying the distinctions of form
and feature which separate the human
family into its dissimilar groups. Sol
diers in the uniforms of England,
Germany, France, Italy, Bel
GUM, and the United States, illustrate
the tastes and traits of those powers.
The domestic life of many lands are
and, in countless ways, the
kaleidoscope of the world. as it exists
in the nineteeth century, presents itself l
to the Centennial visitor. To appreci- l
ate the big show n must see it. !
Politics are at fever heat, and the {
prospects for Tildrn's election are good. J
The Republicans acknowledge that this {
State, New York, is the battle ground
of the campaign, and unless they carry |
it, the defeat of Hayes is certain. The I
are thoroughly organized in t
New York, and there is no doubt but
5he State will give Tilden an immense q
majority. If the South does her duty, v
md she never yet failed to perform we'll i