of the conquering
William; a carpet, over whose chequered face the great Raleigh might
have strolled in deep contemplation; a rug, on whose surface generations
of spinsters might have watched the purrings of their pet Toms or gazed
on the glutinous eyes and inhaled the loaded breeze that came from the
fat and fragrant Pug: whichever way the eye turned, whatever direction
the imagination took, the conviction forced upon the mind was, that you
were in an inheritance, and that what the wisdom and energy of one
generation had gathered together, succeeding generations had not yet
scattered to the winds by the withering blast of infinitesimal division.
With the imagination thus forcibly filled with home and its
associations, you involuntarily feel disposed to take a stroll on the
lawn; but on reaching the door, your ears are assailed by wild shouts of
infantine laughter, and, raising your eyes, you behold a dozen little
black imps skylarking about in every direction, their fat faces, bright
eyes, and sunny smiles beaming forth joyousness and health. Home and its
varying visions fly at the sight, giving place to the reality that you
are on a slave plantation. Of the slaves I shall say nothing here beyond
the general fact that they appeared healthy, well fed, and well clothed
on all the plantations I visited. Having enjoyed the hospitalities of
Shirley for a few days, it was agreed that I should make a descent upon
another property lower down the river. So, bidding adieu to my good
friends at Shirley, I embarked once more on the steamer, and was landed
at the pier of Brandon, in the most deluging rain imaginable. A walk of
a quarter of a mile brought me to the door like a drowned rat, a note
from my Shirley friends secured me an immediate and cordial welcome.

Brandon is perhaps the plantation which is more thoroughly kept up than
any other on the James River, and which consequently has altered less.
I am alluding now to the house and grounds about, not to the plantation
at large; for I believe the proprietor at Shirley is reckoned A1 as a
farmer. I have before alluded to the blight which destroyed so many fine
elms on both shores of the James River. The withering insect appeared at
Brandon; but the lady of the house soon proved that she knew the use of
tobacco as well as the men, by turning a few hogsheads of the said weed
into water, making thereby a murderous decoction, with which, by the
intervention of a fire-engine, she u