Such guests of culture as could be obtained were hospitably
welcomed at their island mansion. Few boats passed up and
down the river without stopping at the island, and cultured
and noble persons from England and France not infrequently
found their way to the far-off home of the Blennerhassets.
Yet, withal, the intervals between the visits of cultivated
guests were long. Ohio was rapidly filling up with
population, but culture was a rare exotic in that pioneer
region, and the inmates of the Blennerhasset mansion must
have greatly lacked visits from their own social equals.
One day in the spring of 1805 a traveller landed on the
island, as if merely lured thither by the beauty of the
grounds as seen from the river. Mr. Blennerhasset was in his
study, whither a servant came to tell him that a gentlemanly
stranger had landed, and was observing the lawn. The servant
was at once bidden to invite the stranger, in his master's
name, to enter the house. The traveller courteously
declined. He could not think of intruding, begged to be
excused for landing on the grounds, and sent in his card.
Mr. Blennerhasset read the card, and his eyes lighted up
with interest, for what he saw was the name of a former
Vice-President of the United States. He at once hastened to
the lawn, and with polite insistence declared that Mr.
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