Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/107

1868.] The Restoration, of Mount Vernon. 87 entrance porch, and all its parts; the quadrant colonnades, and the story and a half offices on both sides of the man- sion ; all of white marble, to correspond. Let the roof be of white glazed tiles ; and make the upper balustrades of well- galvanized iron. All the old interior parts would be inserted, piece by piece, in their respective places, as before ; to be thenceforward carefully protected, as far as might be, from the influence of decay, b} ? regularly recurring, thorough and careful applications of paint, varnish or oils, as the case should require. Then such of the authentic Washington moveable relics, as might be attainable, should be deposited in the apartments of this glorious old home. The sum- mer-houses and other detached bowers, shelters, lodges, gateways, &c, would be innovated in a similar manner, re- placing the frailness of wood by the permanence of marble and of galvan- ized iron. Then the old paths and, drives, the gardens and the conservato- ries should be replaced, in appearance as they were of old, with more substan- tial materials for the different parts. Finally : the plants known to be favor- ites of Washington and his immediate family, should reappear, in the spots where the General himself had them planted, or standing ; and the forest should be managed, so far as its nature would permit, upon the same principle. The reader will mark, that the whole interior space of the dwelling would be as at first. That is, were the entire mansion to be dissolved into, and re- crystallized from air, its every interior part would occupy precisely the same atmospheric space, with respect to the soil of the homestead of Mount Vernon. The very points of space, moved through and breathed in, by the Father of His Country, would be occupied and traversed by the honoring visitors, who would also have the same floors beneath them and the same wood-work around them. The one only difference would be, that to give the exact interior dimen- sions, would, from the nature of the new outer materials, render the exterior a little larger, though, at prospect dis- tance, not perceptibly so, as the style and all the proportions would be ac- curately preserved. Nevertheless, for all this, two hun- dred thousand dollars would be an an- tirely inadequate sum. A million and a half would be a much closer approxi- mation. The American people, however, will cheerfully furnish the latter, or a much larger sum for this purpose, or any other great one, to keep them to- gether. Woe to all factionists striving to rend them apart ! Such — and such alone — in our view — such, we hope, in the public view — would be a faithful, an enduring resto- ration, of the arch-patriot Washington's paternal hall and home. A MORGUE for Philadelphia has often been discussed and recom- mended in our public prints ; but although our editors have discoursed both eloquently and feelingly, so far we have had to put up with the insufficient and miserable green-houses. We trust however, that the matter will not be suf- fered to rest, until a substantial and appropriate edifice shall be erected and consecrated to the sad and solemn pur- pose of decently displaying for recog- nition, the bodies of all those, at first unknown, unfortunates found dead from whatever cause. No matter how way- ward, or how vicious the courses, leading many members of the human family to unsheltered, unattended and, it may be, untimely deaths — and often these are the result of honest but over-sensitive mis- fortune, well worth the sympathies of of the proudest, or the purest — the unsepulchred and uncared-for corpse is a responsibility of enlightened Christian society and government, to be most ten- derly kept. If, within a reasonable time, neither relative nor friend appears, then the remains claim decent burial from the general relationship of their former inhabitant with the great body of mankind. May the long-desired con- sumation soon be attained.