On the 6th of June my papa, mamma, and I went on the State Editors'
Excursion to Washington and Mount Vernon. We arrived at Washington
at half past one, and at the depot we were met by our friend Mr.
Read, of the Patent-office. After resting awhile, we went around
the city to see the sights until dinner-time, which was half past
four. At nine o'clock that evening I went with my papa and mamma to
the formal reception which the President gave the editors. Being a
little girl, I felt shy, and almost slipped past him, but he said,
"I don't want this little miss to pass me." So the secretary of the
association took me, and told him who I was. He then shook hands
with me very pleasantly, so I'm no more shy of the President.
The next morning we took the steamboat _Corcoran_ to go to Mount
Vernon. I liked the ride very much; it was very pleasant down the
river. On entering the grounds the first thing visited was the tomb
of Washington, and there we stood and looked and looked at the
marble caskets that hold the bodies of George and Martha
Washington. Mamma reached through the iron bars and got some
pebbles that were put there for visitors to take. The next place we
came to was the old tomb of Washington. We went down into it, and
there we chipped some splinters off the old door frame. The mansion
we came to next, and entered the hall, and there we saw the key of
the Bastile (which is a very large key) in a glass case. The first
room we entered was the state dining-room, and there a gentleman
explained the different interesting things that were in the house.
In this room, in a glass case, is a stone model of the Bastile. We
then came into the east parlor; in it was what I thought was an
old-fashioned piano, but I was told that it was a harpsichord. We
next entered the west parlor; then the dining-room, in which was a
large fire-place. From there we went into the kitchen, where there
was a table spread, with old-fashioned dishes, knives, and forks.
We then went upstairs, and entered the room where Washington died.
The bed was very wide. We also saw the room of Martha Washington,
and that of Eleanor Custis. Her bed was so high that she had to
have three steps to go up to it. Lafayette's room and the
guest-chamber were the two prettiest rooms in the house. All the
rooms have the same furniture that they had in Washington's day. We
went to the attic, and up into the cupola, and had a good view of
the beautiful Potomac and the country around. A gentleman took a
hen's egg out of a nest in the old brick barn. I gathered a bunch
of clover heads and daisies from the yard.
What I like best at Mount Vernon are the grounds and the
river-bank, where I would so much enjoy running and playing. I used
to think that Washington was a very plain man, but since I have
been at his home I have changed my mind, and now think that he
liked fine things too. We started back to Washington city about two
o'clock, and reached there in time for our dinner, which we enjoyed
very much after our day of sight-seeing.
Next day we went into the Patent-office, the Treasury Department,
the Smithsonian Institution, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing,
the Agricultural Building, the Post-office, and the Capitol. All
these buildings are very large and handsome, and contain many
interesting and wonderful things. In the Dead-letter Office we met
an old gentleman who was very kind to me. He said:
"Little girl, are you a Sunday-school girl, and what school do you
go to?"