Here dwelt Harman Blennerhasset and his lovely wife; he a
man of scientific attainments, she a woman of fine education
and charming manners. He was of Irish origin, wealthy, amply
educated, with friends among the highest nobility. But he
had imbibed republican principles, and failed to find
himself comfortable in royalist society. He had therefore
sought America, heard of the beautiful islands of the Ohio,
and built himself a home on one of the most charming of them
all.
We have described the exterior of the mansion. Interiorly it
was richly ornamented and splendidly furnished. The
drawing-room was of noble proportions and admirable
adornment. The library was well filled with choice books.
The proprietor was fond of chemistry, and had an excellent
laboratory; he enjoyed astronomy, and possessed a powerful
telescope; he had a passion for music, had composed many
airs, and played well on several instruments. He was, in his
way, a universal genius, courteous in manners, benevolent in
disposition, yet of that genial and unsuspicious nature
which laid him open to the wiles of those shrewd enough to
make use of his weak points.
Mrs. Blennerhasset loved society, and was none too well
pleased that her husband should bury himself and her in the
wilderness, and waste his fine powers on undeveloped nature.
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