The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1880-06-17
Rstusbllrg ( Ka.. ). Inder. Appeai.

tetTsohrg va. J. 4naer' Appear,
Owing to tho inability of the Govern.
ment TO acquire Q perfect title TO the
ground under the act OF Congress,
specially passed in the Forty.fifth Con-
gresu, the erection Of the monument
which was authorized over the grave of
Thomas Jefferson, ct Monticello, has
been delayed, awaiting additional legis-
lation. The State Department has this
week addressed letter to the proper
COME i,tee, srbmitting the defects which
tine Attorney General has found In the
title, and asking for such legislation as
will remedy them and permit the United
States to proceed with the erection of
the monument, Monticello, by which
the estate of Jefferson 10 known, has
been in litigation for great many years,
and has only been settled within the past
few months by o legal sale to the princi-
pal heirs. Eot lcng time it was Sabans
doned, and the mansion remained wholly
uninhabited, but it will be at last mat
ter OF pride to the people of the entire
country that.the private estate has been
reclaimed through private efforts, aud
that the grave, so long desecrated, of the
author Of the Declaration of Indepen.
dence is to pass under the control Of the
Government he was pre- eminent in form
ing and perpetuating.
The proposition to erect a new monu-
ment over the grave of jefferson prompt
ed O. visit to Monticello. The route is
one of some six hours over the Virginia
Midland Railroad from Washington,
through Manassas, Culpeper, ACROSS the
Rapidan, by Orange Court House and
Observation-Disclosures that mark the
shocks oe hass...:s!!oo-to Charlottesville. AT.
this season of the year it is o most
charming journey. May in Virginia is
lovely month. Z The rich green foliage
of the receding spring. time is softened
by the balmy air Of the coming summer.
The meadows are lsxuriant, and the wild
flowers bloom in the valleys and the
maple and the elm wave on thehill-tops.
AS the train rolls around the edge of
the valley of the Rivanna, just before
yon reach Charlottesville, Monticello
may DO seen on the "little mountain" on
the LEFT through the opening in the old
trees which nearly surround it, Month
cello pronounced as if spelled ,1iont-
chello) is an Italian name, meaning Lit
tie Mountain. The ascent, which ia
about six hundred feet above Charlottes-
Vile, is over an excellent road, over
shadoyed with. wooden folds, through
WuiCu shons dlu tileis yUu tCtitCiAf RliIQpBe5
Of the beautiful coiintry beneath that
stretches for milea till it meets the pic
turesque; summit of the "Blue moun-
tains." After crossing the notch between
Little Mountain on the left and Carter's
Mountain that rises above it on the right,
the road leading to Monticello is sleeper.
Two thirds of the way up and few
yards to the right of the road in thick
growth of woods Is, located the, grave of
Thomas Jefferson. The condition of the
grave aud the monumeht that marks it
are o disgrace to the American name.
The location 10 desolate; the graveyard
dilapidated, and the decay all but COM
plete. The grave mound has been these
many years leveled with the ground,
while the monument has been defaced
beyond recognition For halfa century.
the vandal-mho would defy the spestir
lence tlistyWAlketh at nooaday1 to Garry
on his work of destruction--has Clipped
aud hewn the edges of the shaft from
base to apex, which now locates the heap
of the grave, till it looks as If it had been
placed there rough from he quarry. It
was originally coarse granite obelisk,
about nine feet high, on base three feet
square, desi~red with its inscriptions by
Jefferson hih,self, and erected soon, after
his DEATH The legendary tablets of
the past were utterly obliterated by. the
DETACHMENT with the single exception of
the words in block letters at the base:
Born A DYif q OsSz 1743 Us Z: