I do," replied the ancient family servant, who had lived to see five generations; "great times, sir, great times-shall never see the like again!" "And Washington looked something like a man, a proper man-hey, Cully?" "Never seed the like, sir-never the like of him, though I have seen many in my day-so tall, so straight! and then he sat on a horse and rode with such an air! Ah, sir, he was like no one else. Many of the grandest gentlemen, in the gold lace, were at the wedding; but none looked like the man himself." Strong, indeed, must have been the impression which the person and manner of Washington made upon the "rude, untutored mind" of this poor negro, since the lapse of three-quarters of a century had not sufficed to efface it.

The precise date of the marriage the biographer has been unable to discover, having in vain searched among the records of the vestry of St. Peter's church, New Kent, of which the Rev. Mr. Munson, a Cambridge scholar, was the rector, and performed the ceremony, it is believed, about 1759. A short time after their marriage, Colonel and Mrs. Washington removed to Mount Vernon, on the Potomac, and permanently settled there.

"This union," says Sparks, "was in every respect felicitous. It continued forty years. To her intimate acquaintances and to the nation, the character of Mrs. Washington was ever a theme of praise. Affable and courteous, exemplary in her deportment, remarkable for her deeds of charity and piety, unostentatious, and without vanity, she adorned by her domestic virtues the sphere of private life, and filled with dignity every station in which she was placed."

Previous to his acquaintance with Mrs. Custis, Washington had been pleased with other ladies. The author above quoted on this point says, that in 1756, "While in New York, he was lodged and kindly entertained at the house of Mr. Beverley Robinson, between whom and himself an intimacy of friendship subsisted, which, indeed, continued without change, till severed by their opposite fortunes twenty years afterwards in the revolution. It happened that Miss Mary Philips, a sister of Mrs. Robinson, and a young lady of rare accomplishments, was an inmate in the family. The charms of this lady made a deep impression upon the heart of the Virginia colonel. He went to Boston, returned, and was again welcomed to the hospitality of Mr. Robinson. He lingered there till duty called him away; but he was careful to intrust his secret to a confidential friend, whose letters kept him informed of every important event. In a few months intelligence came, that a rival was in the field, and that the consequences could not be answered for, if he delayed to renew his visits to New York. Whether time, the bustle of a camp, or the scenes of war had moderated his admiration, or whether he despaired of success, is not known. He never saw the lady again till she was married to that same rival, Captain Morris, his former associate in arms, and one of Braddock's aids-decamp.

"He had before felt the influence of the tender passion. At the age of seventeen, he was smitten by the graces of a fair one, whom he called a lowland beauty,' and whose praises he recorded in glowing strains, while wandering with his surveyor's compass among the Alleghany mountains. On that occasion he wrote desponding letters to a friend, and indited plaintive verses, but never ventured to reveal his emotions to the lady who was unconsciously the cause of his pains."

On the eastern bank of Ware creek, a tributary of York River, and the dividing line of New Kent and James City counties, is the "STONE HOUSE," as it is called, which is perhaps the most curious relic of antiquity in Virginia. A writer-C. C. of Petersburgin a late number of the Southern Literary Messenger, gives the following sketch:

The Stone House is distant from the mouth of Ware creek five miles, from Williams. burg fifteen, and from Jamestown twenty-two. The walls and chimney, which remain, are composed of sandstone. The house is eighteen and a half feet by fifteen in extent. It consists of a basement room under ground and a story above. On the west side is a doorway six feet wide, giving entrance to both apartments. There are loop-holes in the walls, measuring on the inside twenty by ten inches, on the outside twenty by four. The walls are in the basement two feet thick, in the upper story eighteen inches thick. The masonry bears marks of having been executed with great care and nicety. The house stands in an extensive waste of woods, on a high knoll or promontory, around the foot of which winds Ware creek. The structure fronts on the creek, being elevated one

hundred feet above its level, and standing back three hundred feet from its margin. The spot is approached only by a long circuitous defile, the comb of a ridge, in some places so narrow that two carts could not pass abreast. This defile is, besides, involved in such a labyrinth of dark ridges of forest and deep gloomy ravines, mantled with laurel, that it is said to be next to impossible to find the way without the aid of a guide. Nor is the place more accessible by water. The surrounding country is described as the most broken and desert tract to be found east of the Blue Ridge.

The singular structure of the old "Stone House," and its wild, secluded, desolate site, have naturally given rise to several traditions and conjectures as to its origin and purpose. It is said that there is a neighborhood tradition, that the house was erected as early as thirteen years after the landing at Jamestown-and that it was built by the famous pirate Blackbeard, as a depository of his plunder. This hypothesis, however, involves a serious anachronism; since it is well established that Blackbeard did not figure in the waters of Virginia until about the year 1717-more than a century after the landing at Jamestown.

Another fanciful conjecture is, that the "Stone House," like the cave where Dido entertained Eneas, was a sort of rendezvous meeting-place of Captain Smith and Pocahontas! This is rather too romantic.

Another conjecture, much more plausible than either of those above mentioned, is that the house was built by the adherents of Bacon in his rebellion, who, after their leader's death, still held out so pertinaciously against Governor Berkeley. This surmise, however, would seem to be unfounded. Firstly, it is well known that those followers of Bacon occupied West Point at the head of York River, strongly fortified it, and made it their place of arms. That post in their hands actually proved impregnable against repeated assaults of the governor's forces under Ludwell. And Sir William Berkeley, at length fatigued by their resolute defence, in order to induce their surrender, was obliged to offer the rebels there a general pardon, which nothing less than the last necessity could have extorted from him. The position occupied by Bacon's adherents at West Point being so strong and every way convenient, there could have been no motive to prompt them to build another fortification on Ware creek.

In the next place, it is altogether improbable that the vindictive vigilance of Berkeley would have suffered Bacon's followers unmolested to erect such a work as the "Stone House," whose elaborate construction would seem rather to indicate that it was built in the leisure of peace, than in the anxious precipitancy of a hard-pressed and hopeless rebellion.

Lastly, of Bacon's rebellion there are several minute circumstantial accounts, and it is improbable that Beverly, T. M., and others, would have omitted a fact so interesting as the erection of a fortified work on Ware creek, when they were detailing so many other particulars of less consequence.

So much for these conjectures. I now beg leave to suggest another, founded on the following passage:

"We built also a fort for a retreat neere a convenient river, upon a high commanding hill, very hard to be assalted and easie to be defended, but ere it was finished this defect caused a stay. In searching our casked corne, we found it halfe rotten and the rest so consumed with so many thousands of rats that increased so fast, but their originall was from the ships, as we knew not how to keepe that little we had. This did drive us all to our wits end, for there was nothing in the country but what nature afforded.” * * "But this want of corne occasioned the end of all our works, it being worke sufficient to provide victuall."-Smith's Hist. of Va., B. III., p. 227.

Upon lately meeting with this passage in Smith, I was forcibly struck with the coincidence between the fort thus spoken of by him and the "Stone House." If the conjecture be well founded, it will entitle that structure to the claim of being the oldest house in Virginia, if not in the United States, as the fort mentioned by Smith was erected about the year 1608-9, only two or three years after the landing at Jamestown, which would make it about two hundred and thirty-four years old. Smith says, "We built also a fort for a retreat;" that is, a retreat from the Indians in case Jamestown should have been overpowered. "Neere a convenient river." The "Stone House" is about a hundred yards from Ware creek. "A convenient river,"-by the description given above, it is seen that no situation could have been more eligible. It may be worth while to observe that the name of the river is not given; now, in all probability, Ware creek at that early day had not been named by the English, being an unimportant stream. Upon a high commanding hill;" this answers exactly to the site of the "Stone House." "Very hard to be assalted and easie to be defended;" all the descrip. tions of the "Stone House" fully confirm these particulars. "But ere it was finished this defect caused a stay," &c. * 64 * But this want of corne occasioned the end of all our works," &c. Now the "Stone House" is apparently incomplete, and there is neither roof nor floor; this unfinished appearance seems to have puzzled some of its visitors. Smith's statement, however, that it was left unfinished, may at once solve the enigma.

From all these corroborating circumstances, there seems to be good reason to conclude that the "Stone House" is the fort mentioned by Smith. Its antiquity, the associations connected with it, the superstitious fancies to which it has given rise, and its wild and sequestered situation, all conspire to render the old "Stone House" an attractive object to the tourist and the antiquary, and, perhaps, not uninteresting even to the novelist and poet.

NICHOLAS.

NICHOLAS was formed in 1818, from Kanawha, Greenbrier, and Randolph. It is 44 miles long, with a mean width of 20 miles. It is watered by Gauley and Elk Rivers,-the latter of which is a beautiful flowing stream, susceptible, at a small expense, of being made navigable to its source. The soil and climate present great variety; being in some parts very warm and fertile, in others cold, barren, and mountainous. Pop. in 1840, whites 2,440, slaves 72, free colored 3; total, 2,515.

Summerville, the county-seat, 310 miles from Richmond, and about 70 from the Ohio, contains about 25 dwellings.

NORFOLK.

NORFOLK was formed in 1691, from Lower Norfolk, afterwards changed to the name of Nansemond. Its length from N. to s. is 32 miles, mean width 17 miles. The Portsmouth and Roanoke rail

In the centre of the view is shown the market, and in the distance, on the opposite bank of Elizabeth river-the common harbor of Norfolk and Portsmouth-a part of the town of Portsmouth.