erected, dedicated to hospitality, where a priestess, in the
person of an elegant and refined lady, shed an influence around that
attracted to its portal the stranger from every country. In looking at
a scene, now desolate and repulsive, he can scarcely credit the fact,
that, within that period, the same place was embellished by gardens,
groves, and arbors, upon which taste was exhausted, and which cost a
fortune to realize. The villa of Blennerhasset was really a
beacon-light in the wilderness, that seemed created to invite the
approach of the stranger to enjoy that repose which the sluggish and
comfortless mode of travelling of that day, rendered so gratifying.
The only sounds now heard, are the sighing of the wind through the
lofty cotton wood, or the puffing of steam, as some boat rushes
rapidly past the prosperous settlement of Bellepre. There was a time
when music of a less melancholy character breathed upon the ear; when
a master hand swept the chords, and science and taste directed the
scene.

Herman Blennerhasset and his accomplished wife have sat for many a
picture; but, after all, Fancy, alone, guided the pencil, and the
originals have never been truly sketched. The reality of their history
possesses sufficient interest, without the aid of fiction, to enlist
the sympathies of the most romantic. Born to fortune, and nobly
connected, Blennerhasset stood in the front rank of Irish society.
Educated for the bar, he distinguished himself on many occasions, and
he was the assistant counsel, with Curran, in the celebrated trial of
Hamilton Rowan. But his disposition was restless, his mind visionary,
and, doubtless, he felt sincerely for the degraded state of his
country. Notwithstanding his close relationship to the aristocracy of
Ireland, and the glaring unfitness of his character for scenes of
daring and of danger, he connected himself with the leading yeomen of
that day, and became the intimate associate and co-adjutor of Arthur
O'Conner. He continued to labor in the cause of Liberty, until the
eyes of Government were turned upon him; the result is a matter of
public history: O'Conner was arrested, and Blennerhasset escaped. He
had the good fortune, however, to secure a considerable portion of his
property, and, accompanied by his accomplished wife, an English lady,
he arrived in New York in 1796 or '97, with what, in this country, was
esteemed a large fortune.

He was, however, a visionary; he knew nothing of