tomac within the city limits, and here he erected a mansion
whose beauty and elegance made it famous throughout the country. This
mansion he called Kalorama, and the wealth and correct taste of its
owner were lavishly employed in its adornment. Broad green lawns, shaded
by forest trees, surrounded the house, fountains sparkled and gleamed
amid the shrubberies, and gay parterres of flowers added their beauty to
the scene. Within, French carpets, mirrors, statuary, pictures and
bric-a-brac betokened the foreign tastes of the owner. In the library
was gathered the most extensive private collection of foreign books
which the country then contained. Kalorama was the Holland House of
America, where were to be met all the notables of the land, political,
literary or philanthropic. The President, heads of departments,
Congressmen, foreign ambassadors, poets, authors, reformers, inventors,
were all to be seen there. Robert Fulton, the father of
steam-navigation, was the poet's firm friend, and received substantial
aid from him in his enterprise. Jefferson, throwing off the cares of
state, often paid him informal visits, and the two sages had a pet plan
which was generally the subject of conversation on these occasions. This
was the scheme of a national university, to be modelled after the
Institute of France, and to combine a university, a learned society, a
naval and military school and an academy of fine arts. The movement had
been originated by Washington, and Jefferson and Barlow, with many other
leading men of the day, were its warm friends and promoters. In 1806,
Barlow, at Jefferson's suggestion, drew up a prospectus, which was
printed and circulated throughout the country. So great a public
sentiment in favor of the scheme was developed that a bill for its
endowment was shortly after introduced in Congress; but New England
exerted her influence against it in favor of Yale and Harvard so
successfully that it was defeated.

The chief literary work which occupied the poet in this classic retreat
was _The Columbiad_, which appeared in 1808. He also busied himself with
collecting materials for a general history of the United States--a work
which, if he had been permitted to finish it, would have proved no doubt
a valuable contribution to this department of literature. But in the
midst of this scholarly retirement he was surprised at receiving a note
from Mr. Monroe, then Secretary of State, offering him the position of
minist