Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1878-05-03

oNR OF THE CAMBRIDGE LIoNs-THR LONG
FELLOW MANSION

How few days Of alternating rain and
sunshine have changed the appearance of
Nature The fresh, green grass on the
lawns and in the fields Is now tall enough
to give waving, velyety appearance as the
winds blow over it the garden flowers have
burst the sheaths about their delicate petals,
adding beauty to public and private grounds.
Let us take ride this delightful evening as
I the sun is sinking beneath the western hills,
to enjoy again the fresh scenes Of Spring and
to visit spot hallowed to every true Amer
lean by its political and literary history-the
Longfellow mansion.
Through Charles street, between Boston
Common and the Public Gardens, we 60 in
the midst of fountains, miniature lakes,
green lawns, artistic hOwer-beds. and
statues of various kinds, which once gave
the appearance of classic city, but which
are now so common in every prosperous
once arousing thought Of European city.
On our right we pass the beautiful monu-
ment dedicated little less than ayear ago in
commemoration of the soldiers and sailors
who perished in the late war. As We reach
Cambridge street we turn and drive west
ward over the long Cambridge bridge,
spanning the much-praised river Charles.
As you look down into its dark, turbid
waters you wonder how Longfellow could see
so many beauties in this sluggish stream,
lazily tossing and beating its banks on either
side. But raise your eyes to the picture pre-
sentcl as the setting sun sheds his rays
along down the stream, whose uninterrupt-
ed course is visible far to the west, and on
its right bank the long line Of architecture
reaching down to the waters edge. Now
you see view worthy, indeed, Of the
poets pen and the painters brush. But
this is not the view that has stimulated
Lonsiellow or Lowell to give it renown
among men.
The true meadow river, that winds and re-
winds back upon itself as if to enjoy as long
as possible its purity and its rollicking,
dancing eddies and ripples, is three miles
away to the west, near Mount Auburn, the
great "city of the dead Thitherwari We
drive through the busy main street of Cam
bridgeport, passing by the famous Riverside
Press in the distance on our leir, and far
ther on the "Muses Factories'' on our right
As We drive to the right at Harvard Square.
We catch glimpse of large, brick building,
the nucleus of which, two and half cen
turies ago, was the first printing eatablish-
ment on this continent. The broad lawns
comprising the common now attract our atten-
ton and we remember that in the early days,
when Cambridge was called Newtown, and
John Winthrop with his study followers
settled here, the councils of the infant
State, now "grown old IN sin,' were held
the middle of this common. On the weSs
side of the common, at Il fork where three
roads meet, still stands the venerable ma
tive elm beneath whose branches-I
granite slab placed At its foot
within few years tells us-Wash-
inston first took command of the American
army, July 3. l775. The broken and de-
caying monarch OF the forest is not pleas
ant sight to behold but when VIC look upon
its broken limbs and wcather-beatcn trunk,
and recall well-known facts connected with
the tree, each brim-fuil of suggestions for
inspiring meiitations, We cannot bear to
leave the spot
a few steps further on, We came to an
old-iashioned family mansion setting back
from the street. 1t faces the south
From the front door the visitor
gets an uninterrupted view across a field
fronting on the opposite side of the street.
The view extends down to the edge of the
winding river before mentioned and across
the meadows to gradually sloping hill-sidCs
which are dotted with residences; and as
the evening advances and the lamps are
lighted, they furnish starry background
for a picture, the beauties of which the
pen is utterly unable to delineate. By
daylight, too, the dim tops of the Blue
Hills of Milton show their distant submits
Just above the nearer heights.
The spacious grounds are laid out
with few walks. broad lawns, surrounded
with thickly set row of trees and
shrubbery, and there are 4 few elms which
must have shaded the walk leading up to
the front door. when Lonstcllow took rooms
here, forty-Onc years ago. The house itself
is an old baronial mansion of elegant arehi-
tecture-d large, two-story wooden structure
with large piazzas on the east and west sides,
and the antique roof and chimneys which
characterize 80 many ante-rcyolutiOnary
houses in the old college town. The whole
house has an air of Opulenee and generosity
which YOU feel sure must have been distin-
gushing traits of the former proprietors; for
it has never been rebuilt, and scarcely a
single change has been made in the last
twenty-five years.
Nearly century and a half ago it was
built by one, John Nassal, Il wealthy Eng
lishman. From his son it was bought by
tUt tuiOIlhl anu, ~ u lhttA
date. passed into the possession of prince
of wealth who sent out priyatecrs to plunder
Spanish galleons of their costly wines and
increase his Oriental wealth by seizing
spices and silks found on ships laden from
the Indias. But he and his immense
wealth at last disappeared and Andrew
Cra igie, the apothecary-general of the
Northern army, enters the house When he
had amasscd n fortune, suddenly it departed.
as had that of his predecessor, Thomas Tracy,
1t was while the aged relict of the unior-
tunate Craigie was endeavoring to keep
her former place in the world and obtain 4
living from her diminished estate, that the |
young professor first made his abode in the |
historic mansion. His room was the south |
east chamber, the same that Washington |
had occupied when he made his headquarters |
in the house, before the traditional Tracy took |
possession. The room below his chamber was |
his stuiy-the same use to which it is now |
devoted by the poet. The ruom across the |
hall occupying the southwest corner, was
Mrs. Washingtcn's drawing-rOom. The
large room back of his study was occupied |
by his aids-dc-camp, and is now the poets
library. Here the father Of his country |
had home of no mean accommodations,
considering the straits which the poverty
colonIsts endured through that
dark period of fatigue and bloodshed. Bat
we must remember that in his Virginia
home he had become accustomed to enjoy all
the refncments of European ariStocracy.
While stopping here, Washington was made
the first LID. of Harvard College.
Here, | say, the Young professor found
himself in 1887, surrounded with reminders
of legendary and heroic Zines, and in the
very track. of the principal actors. How
the stories connected with these scenes, how
The natural beauties OF the place controlled
,nd stimulated his muse, few can estimate.
In this house, with the exception of few
brief intervals of travel in E1rOpe, he has
resided continuously since he first met the
turbanei Madame Craigie, and here his two
'ons and three daughters have grown to
nanlN,l and wnm4nhood Thlt charming