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Show TRAVELS TliROUGH NORTH AMERICA : ficulty to find out the right one. I [c;t out from Akxandria with a gentleman who thought himfl:lf perfcClly well acquainted with the way ; had he been fo there was ample time to h<tve reac hed Mount Vernon before the clofe of the day, b tt night overtook us wandering about i11 the woods. We did not percc:ive the vdl:i (rc of a hu t an bc:ing to Jet us right, aud we were pr paring to p~tfs the night in tht: c.nriage, when luckily a light appeared at [orne difl:ancc through the tr es; it ,ts from a fmall farm houfe, the only one in the way for icvcr.1lmilcs; and having made our way to it, partly in the c.lrriage, p:-trtly on foo t, we hired a negro for a guide, who conduCl:ed us to the place of our dcfi:ination in about :::m hour. The next morning I hcitr l of a g-.: 1:t e:n:u , who, a day or two preccdin lr, bad been from ten o' ·Jock in the morning till four in the afternoon on horfcback, unable to find out the phc ·,although within brl.':e or four miles of it th whole time. The Mount is a high part of th bank of the river, which rifcs very abruptly about two hundred feet above the level of the water. The river before it is three miles wide, and on the oppo!ite fide it for ns a bay about the [,me breadth, which ext nds for a con!idcrab1e diihnce up the country. This, at firfl: fight, appears to be a continuation of the river; but the Pat wm~c takes a very fudden turn to the left, two or three miles above the houfc, and is quickly lofl: to the view. Downwards, to the right, there is a profpeCl of it for twelve miles. The M rybnd {bore, on the opr ofi te fide, is beautifully divcrfified with hill , which an: moilly overed with wood; in many places, however, little patches of cultivated ground appear, ornamented with houfes. fhc fcenery altogether is moll: delight fu l. T he houfc, which fian s about ilxty yar is from the edge of the Mount, is of wo J, cut and painte I fo as to rdemt1le hewn { one. Tl c rc r i towards the river, at ' hich fid~.: is a portico of ninety-fix feet in length, fupported by eight pillars. The front is uniform, and at a difiance looks tolerably well. The dwell ing houfc is in tl1L enter, and communicates with the wings on ci her fide, by means of cuvc..r ·d ways, running in a curved direc tion . Babind thef(; wings, on the o 1e fide, are the differ nt ofTlces belonging to the houfc, and alfo to the farm, and on the other, the cabins M 0 UN T VERN 0 N. 53 cabins for the SLAVEs·*' . In fro nt, the breadth of the whole build-ing, is a lawn with a grav el walk round it, plan ted with trees, and feparated by hedges on either fid from the farm yard and garde n. As for the garden, it wears cxacly the appearance of a. nurfery, and with every thing about the place indicates that more alt 1tion is paid to profit than to plcafure. T he ground in the rc;ou· of tLc houfc is aHi-> hid ou t in a lawn, and the declivity of the Mou 1t, tow·ards the w, tcr~ in a deer p11rk. The rooms in the houfc arc v ry fmall, euc} ting one, which Ins been built fincc the clofe of the war for the })urpofe f entert-ainments. All of th [e arc very pla inly furni!hc , and in many of eH.'lll the furnitL1re is dr pping to pieces. I ndeed, t!1<.; clofe attention which General \Vafhington has ver paid to public aff.'lirs 1uving obliged him to rdide " Thcfc arc amongll the firll: of the buil.tlngs which a1c fLcn on cominr; to l\lount \ cnwn, aud it i~ not wit out allonilh mwt .and rq1;r..:t they are furn.y.:d by the !hanger, whofc mind has Jwdt with ad111iration upon the ine!\ inuhl hlciTings of liiH:rty, whilll ;tpprO:l\.h ing the r..:iidcnce of that 1t1an 'WhO has tlill inguilllCd himfdf fo gloriou!ly in its eaufe. l Ltppy would it h.tve h~cn , if the man who !loo~l forth the champion or a nation conte 1Jinr; for it'> fr ·cdom, and whofc declarat·on to the wh le world 1', :ts, " That all m..:n were rn at\!tl equ.ll, ancl tlrat they " were emlowed by tl ci r C rr a tor with certain "un .. licnablc rights, <•11101l["•L tlw firil of which " \\CrC Jif..:, liberty, and the purfuit of h:tppi" ncfs ," happy would it hwe hc•·n, if tl•i> nran could have b~en tl e fi1 ll tO wave all intc rdlcd 1 icws, to libcmtt' his own fi,tvt·s, anJ tlru> corwi ncc the pt ople he had !ou~ht for, that it IV'!S th..:ir duty, when they had cilahlilhcd llwir own inc! pt•mlcncc, to give freedom to t holl: whom they had t hernfc lvt•5 held in bontlage!! But mater j,,\ o\.jecliom, 1 e mull fuppofc, appe: neJ againll fuch .r.mc.tfurc,otlu;rwif..:,douhth:r.~, 'c ncral \Vail ington would have 01cwn the "lorious example. P rhap he thought i: more i~r the general good, that the firJl llep for the cmancip:ttion of naves Owuld be takell by the lt•giOati' a[cmbly; or perhaps th rc w:ts reafon !) arprchcnd, that the enfr,tnchi[<.:ll1Ct1t Of his OWn fi:tYCp' n.ight be !he C.1UlC of inrurrC~lOIH ;un<l.lgll ot!lers wh<> 1\t'rc not lrh~r·t cd, a matt:r which could not hut b..: attended \'ith \il confeC'] u cncc,, in a country where th<.: numb:r of 0. v<.s cxccc·Jcd that of fr~ctwn ; however, it docs not ;~ppear that any mcafurcs have b~:en pmlucd, cithrcr by private incli \·iJu.tls r by tile kgiO nurc in Virgini:t for the aboli ion of n tvcry; n•·ithcr h .1~C <lilY ll p· c n taken for t . c: purp fi: in M:nyland, lllur.h ), (, in th •; nwre fou the rn ll.ttcs; hut inl'cnnfyll'anit and the 1dt, bws h,tvc p·rflt:d for it> P,rn-,lu.tl abolition. i ll there 1\,t c.; the number ot tl.tvcs, it is tn1<.:, ll'al vt·1 y fm:~ll, and t' •t' m ,tlurc \', ;<s th~r fo1c c. tily carri~d into cfi"cfl-; in the o hers thm it will rc t 1 nirc mC>lT coafideration. Th~ plan, h011C. ·r, which hns hct,;n adoptctl for the lib ·ration of the few h:ts 'u·cc~dctl wlll; "hy then not t y it "ith a j 11gc:r r.umber? 1 f it doc~ not anlwer, 1\ill l c.tnr ot hut fu 1pol"t· th .tt itntight be fo moc. li ricd as to be rcmlerd ;q plic:thlc to the cr.franchillllcnt of the lllllllbu· of ill fttcd bciur,s who arc enfl tvcd in th fouthern pctrts of the countr )', let it be ever f< large. lio \'ever, that thc·e \\ill be an end ton tvcry in the nitcd St ttc~ c>n [omc tl:ty or other c. nnot bt: doubted; neg-roe> will not re1 •ain ,lnf to the in~i~ing call of liberty for ever; and if their avancJo1rs opprcffors do not free thcrn from _th g.1llicr, yoke, they will liberate thcmrdvcs wnh :t vengeance. principally |