THE GRAVE OF JAMES K. POLK.

Nashville, which was the adopted home of Mr. Polk, is now the resting place of the honored remains of President Polk. It is, so to speak, his cemetery, his permanent home. Not in "the city of the dead," but in the city of the living, his form reposes. The sights and sounds of life with which he was familiar are still about his lowly bed of rest. Beautiful for situation is this thriving city of the living, which rises gracefully above the bluffs of the river to be crowned in its height with its elegant capitol. It is enriched with many elegant homes and many institutions of learning, both for white and colored youth. It is the Athens of the south. The Cumberland river, with its bluffs and promontories and variegated banks, sweeps by it; while far and wide from its capitol stretches, every way, delightful scenery. Almost in sight, twelve miles from the city, is the Hermitage and grave of President Jackson. These two presidents, adopted sons of Tennessee, warm personal friends in life, sleep almost together in death. The generations rising up around them who look upon their tombs and read their histories may be quickened by them to add new honors to the country they served and which honored them with its highest confidence. Over the grave is a limestone monument, designed by William Strickland, the architect of the capitol. It is about twelve feet square and of a similar height. It is in Grecian-Doric style, a cover or roof supported with columns. On the architrave of the eastern front is the inscription:

James Knox Polk,

ELEVENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Born November 2, 1795,

Died June 15, 1849.

On the eastern and southern faces of the monument is the

following record:

THE MORTAL REMAINS OF

JAMES K. POLK

Are resting in the vault beneath.

He was born in Mechlenburg county, North Carolina,
And emigrated with his father,
SAMUEL POLK,

To Tennessee, in 1806.

The beauty of virtue was illustrated in his life; the excellence of
Christianity was exemplified in his death.

By his public policy he defined, established and extended
the boundaries of his country.

He planted the laws of the American Union on the shores of the Pacific.
His influence and his counsels tended to organize

the National Treasury on the principles of the Constitution, and to apply the rule of Freedom to Navigation, Trade and Industry. 'His life was devoted to the public service.

He was elevated successively to the first places of the State
and Federal Governments;

A member of the General Assembly;

A member of Congress;

Chairman of the most important Congressional Committees;
Speaker of the House of Representatives;

Governor of Tennessee, and President of the United States.