The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1878-07-18
THE VALLEY VIRGINIAN.
sTAUNTON, VIRGINIA.

THURsDAY........ JULY 10, 1873
Correspondence of the VIRGINIAN.
WASHINGTON LETTER.
| WASHINGTON CITY AND ITS ATTRACTIONS
HISTORICAL PLACEs-MoUNT VERNON
POLITICAL, &c.
M. Editor For some weeks have been
sojourning in this beautiful city whose love-
ly parks, shaded walks, sparkling fountains
and blooming flowers, remind me of land
| where Summer lives always, and makes me
10th to leave a place where SO much fra
GRANGE and beauty dwells. The contempla-
ton of these grand public buildings and
monuments seems to exalt ones sentiments.
Erected by the genius of man, they are sur
viYing anddurable evidences of mans pow
er and his weakness too :; of his transitory
stay upon earth, and his power to reproduce
| and perpetuate himself through endless time.
When we consider the large amount of hui
man energy which these costly edifices must
have absorbed, and the toll and deprivation
| they must have wrung from the depressed
masses, the question presents itself whether
the expenditure of the sinews of life can be
justified. They are noble and beautiful OBJ
jects, but has the highest good OF the great
est number been advanced by their erection.
Judged by the elevated standard of human
ity, they have really furthered the sum of
human happiness. If the good of human
life consists solely in what man eats and
drinks. then the motives which led to the
construction of these splendid ediices can
not be justified, for it is easy to perceive that
the vast amount of labor required in their
erection, might have been otherwise employ
ed to augment not a little the sum Of the
comforts or luxuries of animal existence
But if life is spiritual-if the highest form of
existence is in the most elevated thought
if grandeur of soul, purity of taste and depth
of sentiment, constitute the essential of hui
man enjoyment, then the question assumes
different aspect, and, with this view. it
would be really difficult to measure their in
fluence for good. For no one possessing
the least susceptibility to the appreciation of
the noble and beautiful, can look upon them
in right disposition of mind, without feel
ing conscious of their influence in exalting
and ennobling his being. They open his
soul to impressions OF the grand and lovely,
and he leaves them with cast of thought
that will! tinge his character in all the flu
ture.
After having visited all tue notable places
in this beautiful city of shades, parks, foun-
Jains and flowers, felt that my sight see
ing tour would be incomplete Without visit
ing Mount Vernon, and 1 resolved to 90
there. On a bright, glad, July morning, in
company with several hundred gentlemen
and ladies, left Washington for sail down
the Potomac, whose placid bosom was dot
ted with numerous white sails, while the
sloping hills on either side were robed in
fresh green foliage and wild flowers, pre-
senting picture SO enchanting that the eX-
preston was frequently heard to escape the
lips OF some fair one, 'Oh, how grand, how
beautiful - The first scene of historic in
terest after leaving Washington is ''Arling-
ton Heights" Prior to the late war, this
was long the home of Virginia's idol, Gen'l
Robert r. Lee, but now the silence of the
grave reigns supreme where then gay life
and joyous hearts made its beautiful groves
resound with their melody for beneath its
shady trees sleep many. of our brave soldiers
on either side who fell while fighting in
what they believed a righteous cause. About
a mile down the river stands the U. S. Ar
senal, where Mrs. Surratt, Payne and Har-
rold paid the penalty Of the law for compile
ity in the assassination of the lamented |
President Lincoln. A little farther down,
and on the opposite side, is sleepy old Alex.
andria, where, glistenlng in the morning
sunbeams, is seen the tall spire Of the church
in which Washington used to worship. just |
in the rear Of Alexandra is the ridge which |
the Confederates reached in their fruitless
efforts to capture Washington City. To the
left, and below this, is old Sort Foot"
gray, messy walls of "Fort Washington.'
This is a very old structure, having been
built away back in revolutionary times, and |
is now dsmantled and stands upon the cliff |
which it surmounts like Goldsmith's Ode
serted Village" From this point Mount
Vernon is in full view, and at once its many
hallowed associations crowd upon the men,
DRY. As we neared the wharf all on board
the steamer uncovered their heads, while the
steamers bell tolled in dirge-like sound the
cf tI,a IUhi1o a lno1y of coTpocc
seemed to shade every face, and all mirth
and laughter were hushed as if in the pres
ence of the mighty dead. From the river,
Mount Vernon has very pleasing and at
tractive appearance. The land is covered
with luxurant trees and flowers, and grad
ually rises back to quite az eminence, and
upon its apex stands the home of him who
was first in war, first in peace, and first in
the hearts of his countrymen." As the Wis
itor passes up the gravel-bed walk he feels
thathe is treading upon holy ground. A spirit
of sanctity-the very atmosphere, and the
leaves and branches as they rustic in the
breeze, seem filled with the genius Ct liber-
ty, while over all falls the saddened light of
Heaven as softly as when it first shed forth
its beams upon the leafy bowers of sinless
Eden. The mausoleum in which the re-
mains Of Washington repose stands midway
between the river and the mansion. Il is
built of brick and is mostly covered with
moss and trailing vines. The entrance is
guarded by two large gates made of iron
bars, through which are seen the sarcopha-
gus in which repose the remains of George
Washington, and another by its side con-
tanning the remains of his wife. 1t is said
that such was the generation and reverence
for these remains, that during our late civil
war the soldiers Of both armies often met at
the tomb, and, forgetting their animosities.
engaged in friendly converse. There is
another vault attached to the one in which
are the remains OF General and Mrs. Wash
ington containing some thirty relatives of
the Washington family. About thirty years
ago, the vault being full, the door was locked,
!