The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1878-09-19
LITERARY
M0NTICELLO,

WesOl1tl0M and Decay at the OAo AONne O1
JeRersOH.
Correspondence OF the n. Y World.
Monticello ls-and should be-as ia.
miliar and as honored name in Ameri
can ears as is Mount Vernon or the Her
mitage. But how scant respect has been
shown to either of the homes of the writer
of the Declaration-that where he lived.
that in which he now lies l visited it not
long since, just before the passage of the
appropriation of $1,000 for the erection
OF a monument oyer the neglected grave,
ana found the tomb levelieI with the
earth, the stone above it detaced beyond
recognition and the dilapidated home
stead in the possession Of tramp.
Monticello, to which President Jeffer-
son retired at the conclusion of his sec
ond term, is on the summit of hill near
Charlottesville, Albemarle, county, Va,
"the very seat from which, lifted above
the worlds turmoil, one who has exhaust
cd wnat it can bestow of eminence might
look down, withdraw from its personal
troubles: bat contemplating at leisure the
uistaut aui,nation OF the eccuo.n On the
spire OF the Blue Ridge, whose varying
outlines stretched away till they are lost
to the sight, with sylvan scene Of unsur
passed loneliness in the vale below, the
quiet Rivanna meandering through rich
fields On one side, the pleasant village
dotted the other, while the perticoes and
domes OF the university rise in the dis
lance behind, it overlooked, says Mr..
Goodwin, "a combination of natural pic
lures that are rarely found in one spot"
The sky above" says another writer, sis
not more shlftins tn. -. Re scene YOU NAV
"s'" before you. 1t takes new aspect
at almost every moment, and bewitches
you with perpetual novelty"
Monticello two generations ago was
more than mansion-it was q communi-
ty. The $4,000 acres of the estate were
carefully titled by small army Of labor
ers. 1t was Jefferson's boast that his car
rage and the tools with which it was
made were alike manufactured upon the
estate. The house was spacious, richly
furnished and commodious, with
an extensive and rich library, in which,
seated in low Spanish chair, the Sage
of Monticello ''held forth to his visitors
in AN almost endless flow of fine dis
course" There is graphic picture OF
him given by writer who saw him at
eighty-one, representing him as dressed
no longer in the red breeches which were
once famous as MS favorite and rather
conspicuous attire, but still indicating
BY sanguine wsist-coat his attachment
TO that republican color; in gray shorts,
small silver knee-buckles, gray woollen
,<,ok;rc, l>loct o1;Dpors hluo lNcIv
coat, surmounted by gray spencer"
He was tall, and though 1.-THE and decid-
edly graceful and agile, long and i'll
limbed. Yet his figure was command
ing and striking, though bad, and his
1ace most animated and agreeable,
though remarkably ugly" His leg had
never been conscious Of q calf, but he
walked we'll and swiftly and with light
ness, and springiness Of tread such As few
Young men have. He mounted his horse
without assistance and rode some ten
miles day; dismounting at fence
breast-high he would leap over it, only
placing his hand on the toumost rail.
Of jefferson as he appeared sixty three
years before, when he was . student q
williamsburg, Va. John Esten Cooke has
given dlScrptlon IS interesting. he
was, says Mr.. Cooke, tall and thin, and his
ACE was angular and far from beautiful
His complexion Vas sunburned, his
hair of ssndy rcd. and his eyes gay
flecked with hazel-add indication gen
orally of intellect. he dressed
somewhat after the fashion of beau. il
lowered waiscoat, . silk coat, stocking!
confined NJ the knee by fancifu,lv worked
garters, and used powder, carried hi
fne lace hat beneath his arm, bowed low
paid gallant compliments to the fair sex
and danced at every assembly," He va
hard student, working fifteen houu |
day, and Wa an excellent performer OF
the violin. -Of "Ossian sr poetry then jus
given to the literary world, he raved; b
intented studying Gaelic % - to real
this greatest Of bar'ls in the original
He ~ depperatelv IN love with Rebecc