On the outside
of this are the gravestones, and large, flat tombstones of the ancient
burial-ground,--the tombstones being of red freestone, with vacant
spaces, formerly inlaid with slate, on which were the inscriptions, and
perhaps coats-of-arms. One of these spaces was in the shape of a heart.
The people were very wrathful that the General should have laid out his
grounds over this old burial-place; and he dared never throw down the
gravestones, though his wife, a haughty English lady, often teased him to
do so. But when the old General was dead, Lady Knox (as they called her)
caused them to be prostrated, as they now lie. She was a woman of
violent passions, and so proud an aristocrat, that, as long as she lived,
she would never enter any house in the town except her own. When a
married daughter was ill, she used to go in her carriage to the door, and
send up to inquire how she did. The General was personally very popular;
but his wife ruled him. The house and its vicinity, and the whole tract
covered by Knox's patent, may be taken as an illustration of what must be
the result of American schemes of aristocracy.
Pages:
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108