“On passing Alexandria, the wharves and shipping were crowded with citizens and neighbors, all business was suspended, and the ‘hum of men’ was hushed in the respectful silence which pervaded this ‘parting hour.’ The general, uncovered, took the station which would place him nearest to his friends, where he could best give and best receive the salute of mutual attachment and esteem. So abstracted from ordinary considerations were the minds of all parties, that the steersman neared the town till the general became enveloped in the smoke of the cannon, which, however appropriate to enemies, were nearer than is usual to friends. The boat, after passing, returned, and repassed the town, again and again producing the most enthusiastic expressions of affectionate farewell. The ramparts of Fort Washington paid their honors, as the mansion, the groves, and the tomb of Mount Vernon opened to view. The progress of the little fleet was arrested, that the last of the generals might pay his pious homage and filial duty to the tomb of the paternal chief. “La Fayette arose—the wonders which he had performed for a man of his age, in successfully accomplishing labors enough to have tested his meridian vigor, whose animation rather resembles the spring than the winter of life, now seemed unequal to the task he was about to perform,—to take a last look at the grave of Washington! He advanced to the effort: a silence the most impressive reigned around, till the strains of sweet and plaintive music completed the grandeur and sacred solemnity of the scene. All hearts beat in unison with the throbbings of the veteran’s bosom, as he looked, and that for the last time, on the sepulchre which contains the ashes of the first of men. He spoke not, but appeared absorbed in the mighty recollections which the place and the occasion inspired. “After this noble scene, the fleet resumed its course, and, after a voyage of safety and expedition, anchored near the _Brandywine_ the ensuing morning. The general was received in the commodore’s barge, and repaired, through very inclement weather, to the gallant bark which is to bear him to his other home. He was placed on the deck of the ship by an ornamented chair, rigged for the special purpose, and under a salute from the main battery—the music of the band, and the greetings of the commodore, his officers, and many guests, who were assembled for this interesting event; but above all, by the warm embrace of the Revolutionary worthies, who had repaired to the ship to take another farewell of their beloved associate of the heroic time. After a sumptuous collation served in the captain’s cabin, and a number of feeling and appropriate toasts, among which was the following by La Fayette:— “‘The national flag of the United States; ever the pledge of glory; on this day the rendezvous of friendship’; and by Mr. Custis, of Arlington:—