timately associated with his childhood's memory, and a few days prior
to his final departure wrote the following lines. In after years nothing
could ever induce him to visit Oak Hill.

FAREWELL TO OAK HILL, 1852, ON DEPARTING THENCE.

The autumn rains are falling fast,
Earth, the heavens are overcast;
The rushing winds mournful sigh,
Whispering, alas! good-bye;
To each fond remembrance farewell and forever,
Oak Hill I depart to return to thee never!

The mighty oaks beneath whose shade
In boyhood's happier hours I've played,
Bend to the mountain blast's wild sweep,
Scattering spray they seem to weep;
To each moss-grown tree farewell and forever,
Oak Hill I depart to return to thee never!

The little mound now wild o'ergrown,
On the bosom of which my tears have oft flown,
Where my mother beside her mother lies sleeping,
O'er them the rank grass, bright dew drops are weeping;
To that hallowed spot farewell and forever,
Oak Hill I depart to return to thee never!

Oh, home of my boyhood, why must I depart?
Tears I am shedding and wild throbs my heart;
Home of my manhood, oh! would I had died
And lain me to rest by my dead mother's side,
Ere my tongue could have uttered farewell and forever,
Oak Hill I depart to return to thee never!

Mr. Gouverneur's pathetic allusion to the graves of his mother and
grandmother affords me an opportunity of saying that in 1903 the
Legislature of Virginia appropriated a sum of money sufficient to
remove the remains of Mrs. Monroe and her daughter, Mrs. Gouverneur,
from Oak Hill. They now rest in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia,
on opposite sides of the grave of James Monroe.

The friendship of Mr. Gouverneur and myself ripened into a deep
affection, and the winter following my visit to Needwood we announced
our engagement. I was warmly welcomed into the Gouverneur family, as
will appear from the following letter:

I can not longer defer, my dear Marian, expressing the great
gratification I experienced when Sam informed me of his
happiness in having gained your heart. It is most agreeable
to me that you of all the women I know should be the object
of his choice. How little I anticipated such a result from
the short visit you made us last summer. Sam is in an
Elysium of bliss. I have lately had a charming letter from
him, of course al