WESTERN FRONT OF MOUNT VERNON, AS IT APPEARED IN 1858. servants' quarters. The mansion, the kitchen and store-house, with the connecting colonnades, and the servants' quarters, all remain, and exhibit the same external appearance which they bore when Washington left them. These may be best seen from the lawn that spreads out before the western front of the mansion, which is first approached by visitors in carriages, there being no road for horses upon the grounds before the river-front. In the prosecution of these improvements Washington was his own architect, and drew every plan and specification for the workmen with his own hand. Every measurement was calculated and indicated with exactness; and in every arrangement for his home, he appears to have made convenience and durability the prime objects of his care. The following letter to Mr. William Rumney, of Alexandria (who had been an aide to General Charles Lee at one time during the Revolution), will give an idea of the carefulness and forethought of Washington in the management of his affairs. Mr. Rumney was then about to leave for England: “General Washington presents his compliments to Mr. Rumney-would esteem it as a particular favor if Mr. Rumney would make the following enquiries as soon as convenient after his arrival in England, and communicate the result of them by the Packet, or any other safe and expeditious conveyance to this country. "1st. The terms upon which the best kind of Whitehaven flag-stone- black and white in equal quantities—could be delivered at the Port of Alexandria, by the superficial foot,—workmanship, freight, and every other incidental charge included. The stone to be 2 Inches, or thereabouts, thick; and exactly a foot square-each kind. To have a rich polished face, and good joints so as that a neat floor may be made therewith. "2nd. Upon what terms the common Irish Marble (black and white if to be had)-same dimensions, could be delivered as above. 3rd. As the General has been informed of a very cheap kind of Marble, good in quality, at or in the neighborhood of Ostend, he would thank Mr. Rumney, if it should fall in his way, to institute an enquiry into this also. "On the Report of Mr. Rumney, the General will take his ultimate determination; for which reason he prays him to be precise and exact. The Piazza or Colonnade, for which this is wanted as a floor, is ninety-two feet eight inches, by twelve feet eight inches within the margin, or border that surrounds it. Over and above the quantity here mentioned, if the above Flags are cheap-or a cheaper kind of hard Stone could be had, he would get as much as would lay floors in the Circular Colonnades, or covered ways at the wings of the House—each of which at the outer curve, is 38 feet in length by 7 feet 2 Inches in breadth, within the margin or border as aforesaid. "The General being in want of a House Joiner & Bricklayer who understand their respective trades perfectly, would thank Mr. Rumney for enquiring into the terms upon which such workmen might be engaged for two or three years (the time of service to commence upon the ship's arrival at Alexandria); a shorter term than two years would not answer, because foreigners generally have a seasoning, which with other interruptions too frequently waste the greater part of the first year -more to the disadvantage of the employer than the Employed.—Bed, board & Tools to be found by the former, clothing by the latter. "If two men of the above Trades and of orderly and quiet deportment could be obtained for twenty-five or even thirty pounds sterling per annum each (estimating the dollar at 4s. 6d.), the General, rather than sustain the loss of Time necessary for communication would be obliged to Mr. Rumney for entering into proper obligatory articles of agreement on his behalf with them and sending them by the first vessel bound to this Port. 66 GEO. WASHINGTON "MOUNT VERNON, July 5, 1784." The pavement-stone procured through Mr. Rumney, in ac cordance with the foregoing order, still exists beneath the grand piazza and the colonnades, but in a dilapidated state. Many of the blocks are gone, others are broken, and all show abrasion by footsteps and the elements. Many of the carpenter's tools, imported from England at that time by Wash ington, for the use of his workmen, are preserved. Washington was very fond of planting trees and shrubbery; and his diaries show that he was much engaged in that business in 1784 and 1785. He went to the woods almost every day to select and mark young trees for transplanting to the grounds. around the mansion, and he generally superintended their removal. In the rear of the mansion, Washington laid out a fine lawn, upon a level surface, which comprises about |