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Show WoRSiiproirNsi T - LEXANDRIA, with 3 its cobble-stone f J ' streets and itscolonial j!!t. historical significance t ' and its quaintness, ojv-t; has as chief attrac- Vf0fa SiJ tions to the sightsee-ySlff sightsee-ySlff 1M7JJ er Christ church, in . which George Wash- 5oi flw ington worshiped: MSOgpf Carlyle house, in JyVytHyi which General Brad-dock Brad-dock made his headquarters head-quarters while preparing to prosecute the French and Indian wars on the Ohio river, and the Marshall house, in which Col. E. E. Ellsworth of the New York Zouaves was killed May 24, 1861, for tearing down a Confederate flag. The town lies on the Virginia side of the Potomac, seven miles below Washington, and its historical associations associ-ations run back to colonial times and continue down through the French and Indian wars, the revolution, the war of 1812 and the rebellion. George Washington Wash-ington as a surveyor helped lay out the town, and became closely identified identi-fied with it, Mount Vernon being only nine miles away. Alexandria was Washington's voting place and his market town. He was a member of Its corporation council, commander of local militia and a member of its volunteer vol-unteer fire company, while here in a hall that is still well preserved he attended at-tended the lodge of Free Masons of which he was a member. For nearly 50 years the town was in the District of Columbia, until in 1864 that portion por-tion of the original orig-inal district lying ly-ing on the west Bile of the Potomac Po-tomac was ceded ced-ed back to Vir-inia. Vir-inia. Christ church Is generally the first point of interest to which the guides conduct visitors. The edifice has been suffered to undergo un-dergo little change during the last cen-tury cen-tury . When - ifty firjr'oiezc amjxz' jzoisd? Fairfax parish vwas created in 1765, George Washington, then thirty-three years of age, was one of its first vestrymen. ves-trymen. The church was finished In 1773, and at the dedication Colonel Washington subscribed 36 10s for a pew, the highest price paid. In the vestry room the sexton displays the record of the purchase of the pew. The Washington pew, a roomy, com. fortable pew of the square type, with seats running around three of its sides and a little wooden gate inclosing the occupants, is preserved just as it looked when It was occupied by the Washington family. On the rail is a silver plate inscribed with a facsimile of Washington's autograph. The seat Is now reserved for strangers. Nearly every visitor to the church sits in the pew for brief meditation while the caretaker points out features of the interior. On the other side of the aisle, half way down the church, is the pew that was occupied by the Lee family, marked with a silver plate bearing a facsimile of the signature of Robert Edward Lee, commander-in-chief of the Confederate army. In front of the church are two mural tablets tab-lets containing the apostles' creed and the Lord's prayer. They have remained re-mained unchanged from the early days of the church and are in old-fashioned English lettering with "f's instead of "s"s. The communion table, the chancel rail, the reading desk and chairs were all here in the days of Washington, and so was the chandelier with its 12 candlesticks. x At the entrance en-trance to the church is a tablet enumerating the six colonels who served as honorary pallbearers and the lieutenants who were active pallbearers pall-bearers at the funeral of Washington. At Fairfax and Cameron streets is the most impressive relic in the town the Carlyle house. It was built in 1745 by John Carlyle, who married Sarah Fairfax, daughter of Lord Fairfax, Fair-fax, and served at major and commissary commis-sary under General Braddock in the French and Indian wars. The old hotel is now almost inclosed by other buildings. When built its eastern side was on the water's edge, while its west porttco looked out upon ' Alexandria, then a great British me-; me-; tropolis for the colonies, with a com-' com-' merce extending to the West Indies, '' South America and Europe. The river is now some distance away, while the ' front of the old house Is hidden from ' the street by another hotel built ? around it. Enough space was pro- ICiMu, tl R! - w - ' i , -i fjvjZ' H'siJ VV : z-H J $h gssl ;t A v i t f f msrazc avasT (misses' Vi . H J K. MJ i - , y ( ffl ( fm. e iifsj lS Si 1" 1-i'" "That taxation and representation are K'i't,'Xl!Sf, in their nature inseparable." George h I 'I t'y&t 172 Washington presided at the meeting. ' Pii , & In the cellar of the old hotel are ' f S the dungeons in which captive Indians J:""i" lL H & " 'VS were imprisoned and hanged and the wi? f -" cellar room in which Carlyle lived foi many months as a precaution against 7 CXXZX2& Indian attack. The building is of mas- Bive stone, which was brought over vided, however, to furnish a good view of the old portico and the front side of the historic Carlyle house. A walk down a cobwebby passage or two brings one to the old hotel. The guide points out the room in which George Washington was offered a commission com-mission in the British army by General Gen-eral Braddock. The chamber occupied occu-pied by Braddock is exhibited, in the center of it a camp bed used by the British general during the French and Indian wars. Then there is the "blue room,"' mildewed and stained now, in which General Braddock held his conferences con-ferences with the governors of six of the colonies. This council between the governors and the British commanders, com-manders, General Braddock and Commodore Com-modore Keppel, led to resolutions reciting re-citing that, as the governors found it impossible to raise in their respective colonies the revenue assessed by King George, his majesties ministers should be asked to find out some method of i compelling the raising of the revenue. The congress of Alexandria contributed contribut-ed largely to the discontent that led to the revolution. As soon as the residents of the town heard of the action of the council they met in the courthouse and passed a resolution from England as ballast in ships, and it is in good preservation, although its interior is delightfully dilapidated from the point of view of the antiquarian. anti-quarian. Until recently several pieces of the original furniture were in the rooms, but they have been purchased for a stage setting for a colohial drama. A fine mahogany staircase, in the main hall is a delightful feature of this colonial relic. "On this here stairway," recites the young woman who acts as guide, "George Washington met his first defeat. de-feat. He was coming down these here stairs when the big door there opened and in Walked MiBS Sally Fairfax on her way 'to lead the minuet. George Washington was only nineteen years , old at the time, but he fell desperately in love and asked Miss Fairfax to marry mar-ry him. She rejected him. This was the first and only defeat of the great general." A flight of dark stone stairs leads to the basement rooms, one of which, Carlyle's room, is said by the guide to have been connected with the rivei bank by an underground passage. Nothing remains of this subterranean way, it having been closed up to prevent pre-vent accidents. |