Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-05-22
MONTICELLO AND MONTPELIER.
The Homes and Graves Of Jefferson
and Madison.

The Homes and Graves Of Jefferson
and Madison.
THE NEW MONUMENT FOR JEFFERS0N-ADDI-
T1oNAL LEGISLATION REQUIRED-A VISIT TO
TIE OLD MONUMENT AND GRAvK-A SCENE OF
DESIGNATION AND DECAY-THE CONTRAST AT
MADISON's GRAVE.
Owing to the inability OF the government to
acquire perfect title to the ground under the
act OF Congress, specially passed In the Forty
nth Congress. the erection Of the monument
which was authorized over the grave Of Thomas
JEFFERSON, at Monticello, has been delayed
awaiting additional legislation. The State de-
partment has this week addressed letter to
the proper committee. submitting the defects
which the Attorney General OF the United
States 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 Month
cello, by which the estate OF Jefferson is known,
has been In litigation for a great many years,
and has only been settled within the past few
months by legal sale to the principal heirs. For
q long time 1t was abandoned and the mansion
remained wholly uninhabited; but 1t will be at
last master OF pride to the people of the entire
country that the private estate has been re-
claimed through private efforts and that the
grave, so long desecrated OF the author Of the
Declaration Of independence, is to pass under
the control OF the government he was pre-
eminent In forming and perpetuating.
The proposition to erect a new monument
over the grave of Jefferson prompted visit TO
Monticello. The route Is one of some six hours
over the Virginia Midland Railroad from Wash
fngtOD, through Manassas. Culpeopar acr )sS the
Rap1dan, by Orange Court House and Cord ms
vllle-mllestones that mark the shocks OF bat
tle-to Charlottesville. At this season of the
year 1t Is most charming journey. May
In Virginia Is lovely month. The rich
green foliage OF the receding springtime Is soft
ened by the balmy air of the coming summer
The meadows are luxuriant, and the wild flow
ers bloom in the valleys and the maple and elm
wave on the hill tops.
AS the train rolls around the edge of the val
ley OF the Ravenna, just before you reach Char
lottesyille, Monticello may be seen on the
little mountain" On the left through the open
Ing In the old trees which nearly surround it.
Monticello pronounced as If spelled MOnttcheI-
LO) Is an italian name meaning Little Mountain,
The ascent which Is about six hundred feet
above charlottesville, Is over an excellent road.
which now and then you catch glimpses OF the
beautiful country beneath that stretches for
mics I'LL II meets the Picturesque sum-
n mls OF IN the blue mountains" After
tain on the left and Carriers Mountain that rises
above 1t On the right, the road leading to Month
cello 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 and the
monument that marks 1t are disgrace to the
American name. The location Is deSolate: the
grave yard dilapidated, and the decay all but
complete. The grave mound has been these
many years leveled with the ground. while the
monument has been defaced almost beyond re-
cognition. For half century the vandal-
who would defy "the pestilence that
Walketh at MONDAY" to carry On his work of
Clipped and hewn the edges
of the shaft from base to apex, which now To-
Gates the head of the grave, till it looks as If it
mad been placed there rough from its quarry.
1t was originally a coarse granite obelisk about
nine feet high on base three feet square, de-
signed with Its inscriptions by Jefferson him.
SELF and erected soon after his death. "The
legendary tablets of the past" were utterly OBJ
liberated by the DETACHMENT with the single ex-
ception OF the words In block letters at the
base: