I one day had the honour of accompanying a lady on a drive to make some
calls in the environs, and a most agreeable drive it was. One of our
visits turned out to me quite an adventure; and procured me the
acquaintance of a character rarely encountered in these rule-of-three
days, wherein humanity is clipped and trained upon the principles of old
Dutch gardening,--no exuberances permitted, but all offshoots duly
trimmed to the conventional cut, until individuality is destroyed, and
one half of the world, like Pope's parterre, is made to reflect, as
nearly as possible, the other.
We drove for some distance through an ill-tended but naturally pretty
domain, alighting unnoticed at a house having an air of antiquity quite
refreshing; three sides of the building were encompassed by a broad
raised stoop, covered with a wide-spread veranda, whilst the walls were
thickly coated with ivy, like the tower of an English village church.
We mounted the stoop, which commanded a vast extent of valley bounded by
distant hills, only needing water to make a perfect prospect. A few
moments after we had rested here, the mistress of the place made her
approach, hoe in hand, for she had been tending her flowers in person.
Such a dear old shepherdess of a woman I have not seen for many a day,
with all the poetry and enthusiasm of nineteen, and a pastoral, simple,
unworldlike air, worthy the golden age of the flower-wreathed
sheep-crook.
She had an anecdote connected with every flower-bed;--her story of the
ivy, so abundant, quite pleased me, as being interesting in itself, and
made doubly so by her _naive_ mode of telling it.
It appeared that the plants were originally cultivated by Mr. Roscoe, on
his place near Liverpool; that the shoots were gathered by the hands of
that amiable and illustrious man, and sent, in fulfilment of a promise
made, to Mr. Jefferson, for the adornment of Monticello.
The bearer of the plants, on arriving at Washington, could find no
immediate means of forwarding them safely into Virginia; so placed them
in the keeping of their present enthusiastic possessor, beneath whose
careful tending,--for the trust has not been reclaimed,--the gift of
friendship has flourished and increased, and will, I hope, remain fresh
as her own spirit, and fadeless as is the fame of the first donor!
Her parterre afforded quite a summary of the history and habits of the
departed great: here were stocks that had been cultivated by the hands
of George Washington, and lilies growing from bulbs dug up by those of
Thomas Jefferson, after each had cast aside the ungrateful cares of
government and resumed those simpler and happier pursuits in which both
delighted; and these flowers of theirs flourish yet in peace and beauty,
side by side, and, fragile as they look, are perhaps more durably linked
than the mighty Union over which these illustrious florists presided
with views so widely different.
The fruit-trees were thick with blossoms, and the air was absolutely
perfumed. I felt exceedingly loath to obey the summons of my fair guide
when informed that the time of departure was arrived, and have seldom
found a visit to appear so very short. The carriage being laden with the
sweet-scented spoils,--or, rather let me say, gifts of our kind hostess,
for nothing could exceed the free hand with which every shrub was rifled
for us,--we made our adieus, and set forth to return to the city by a
different road, paying a call at another cottage residence by the way.
Of these unpretending, but attractive-looking places, there are numbers
in this neighbourhood; and if ever Washington rises to the importance
fondly anticipated by its founders, no city ought to boast more charming
environs.
Here is no end of sites for country dwellings,--valley and hill, river
and rivulet, towering rocks and dark ravines abound in as wild a variety
as heart could wish; with land and living both exceedingly cheap.
I saw one of the prettiest houses possible, with nearly a hundred acres
of land, that had been purchased, a few months before, for five thousand
dollars; and, during my stay here, a first-rate house, with stabling,
&c. complete, as well situated as any in Washington, and as well built,
sold for the same sum. At present, indeed, I should say land about here
is of very little value: though admirably calculated for the residence
of an independent class of gentry, here is no temptation for the planter
or merchant; and but few in this country seek to live a life of leisure
or retirement.