T
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
GIFT OF
COMMODORE BYRON MCCANDLESS
1 1 1
MOUNT VEKNON
ITS ASSOCIATIONS,
BY BENSON J. LOSSING.
ILLUSTRATED BY XUMP]ROUS EXGRAVIXGS,
CHIKPLY FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR, ENGRAVED BY LOSSING * BARRITT.
X K \\r Y 0 R K :
. A . T O AV 1ST S K N I) «to COMPANY, 46 WALKER 8 T U K E T . 1859.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by
BENSON J. L03SING. In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York.
C. A. ALVOK1I, PK1NTKR, XKW YORK.
TO HIS PATRIOTIC COUNT
BY WHOSE EFFORTS
<T b t 1 o m f a n b <T o m b of <SH a s b i n 9 1 o n
£ &
HAVE BEEN RESCUED
FROM DECAY. This Volume is Dedicated
BY
THE AUTHOR,
PREFACE.
THE title of this volume is so fully indicative of its character that scarcely a word of " foretalk," as the Saxon expresses it, seems necessary, except a remark that the work, without pre- tension to the character of a biography, presents, by the consecutive arrangement of facts and illustrations, quite a complete picture of the Private and Domestic Life of Wash- ington ; for that life, from his early childhood, was associated with Mount Vernon.
The following words, explanatory of the origin of the book, appear proper.
Early in October, 1858, I visited Mount Vemon, and en- joyed the hospitalities of the mansion for two or three days. While there I sketched many things with which Washington was associated in life, and, on my return, wrote a narrative of the visit for Harper's New Monthly Magazine, entitled Mount Vernon as it Is, illustrating it by engravings from those sketches.
On the appearance of that narrative, last March, the pub- lishers of this volume conceived the plan of a more extended
8 PREFACE.
account of Mount Vernon and its Associations, and desired me to prepare it. As the possession of that estate was to pass, this year, from the Washington family forever, it ap- peared to be an appropriate time for the preparation of such a memorial, and I undertook it. The following pages are the result.
To make the work more complete, I visited Arlington House and other places, where I knew there were objects that were once at Mount Yernon, and made sketches of them. Those, and the drawings made for Harper's Magazine, and a few that are in my Field- Book of the Revolution, are given in this work.
To those friends who kindly afforded me facilities for form- ing drawings, and especially to the family of Colonel Lee, at Arlington House, and Mr. John A. "Washington, at Mount Vernon, I here acknowledge my obligations, and tender my
thanks.
B. J. L.
POUGHKEEPSIE, August, 1859.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
I'AOK
1. Portrait of Washington (steel).
2. Rear View of Mount Vernon in 1786 (steel).
3. Frontispiece — View of Mount Vernon.
4. Washington's Book-plate 13
5. Cave Castle 15
6. Washington Mortar 16
7. Washington's Seal 17
8. Washington's Seal-ring 17
9. Washington's Watch-seals 17
10. Fac-simile of signatures of Jane and Mary Washington. 18.
11. Dutch Tile — half the size of the original 20
12. Residence of the Washington Family 21
1 3. Washington's Birth-place 22
14. Lawrence Washington , , . ... 25
1 5. Admiral Vernon 2G
16. The Vernon Medal 28
17. Washington's Telescope 36
18. Pack-saddle 30
19. Leathern Camp-chest 39
20. Washington's first Head-quarters. 41
21. The Carey House in 1859 42
22. Mary Phillipse 45
23. Morris's House 46
24. Daniel Parke Custis 50
25. Mrs. Custis's Iron Chest. . . 50
26. Mrs. Washington's Children 52
27. Mrs. Washington at the time of her Marriage 53
28. Chairs once at Mount Vernon. . 55
10 ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
29. Custis Arms 60
30. Washington's Gold Pen with Silver Cape 66
31. Fac-simile of Page-headings in Washington's Diary 66
32. Fac-simile of Entry in Washington's Diary . . 67
33. Mount Vernon Landing 69
34. Ground-plan and Elevation of Pohick Church 74
.35. Mason L. Weems 76
36. Christ Church, Alexandria 77
37. Pohick Church in 1859 78
38. Pulpit in Pohick Church 79
39. Charles Willson Peale 81
40. Washington's Military Button 81
41. Washington as a Virginia Colonel, at the age of forty 82
42. Fac-simile of Peale's Receipt 83
43. John Parke Custis 84
44. Patrick Hohry 89
45. General Charles Lee . . 94
46. General Horatio Gates 96
47. Gold Medal awarded to Washington for the Deliverance of Boston 102
48. Hessian Flag' taken at Trenton 103
49. British Flag taken at Yorktown 104
50. Count de Rochambeau 107
51. Marquis de Chastellux. 109
52. Eleanor Parke Custis 114
53. Washington's Military Clothes 119
54. The Sword and Staff 121
55. Washington's Camp-chest 122
56. Silver Camp-goblet 1 24
57. Washington's travelling Writing-case 125
58. Washington's Tents in their Portmanteaux 126
59. Order of the Cincinnati 129
60. Order presented by French Officers 130
61. Cincinnati Society — Member's Certificate 131
62. Western Front of Mount Vernon in 1858 137
63. Section of shaded Carriage-way 140
64. General plan of the Mansion and Grounds at Mount Vernon 141
65. Garden-house 143
66. Century-plant and Lemon-tree 144
67. View in the Flower-garden at Mount Vernon — the Sago Palm 145
68. Ruins of the Conservatory at Mount Vernon 146
69. Ice-house at Mount Vernon .. . 147
ILLUSTRATIONS. 11
PAG a
70. Summer-house at Mount Vernon ... 148
71. Lafayette.— Painted by C. W. Peale, in 1778 152
72. Masonic Apron wrought by the Marchioness Lafayette 153
73. Houdou's Bust of Washington 163
74. Houdou's Statue of Washington 164
75. Elizabeth Parke Custis 168
76. G. W. P. Custis when a child 169
77. Italian Chimuey-piece 172
78. Tablet on the left, of Chimney-piece 173
79. Centre Tablet 173
80. Tablet on the right of Chimney-piece 173
81. Porcelain Vases 174
82. Oolouel David Humphreys 181
83. Engraving of Louis XVI 183
84. Washington and Lafayette 185
85. Washington's Destiny 186
86. Charles Thomson 193
87. Travelling Boot-jack 195
88. Ancient entrance to Mount Vernon in 1858 , . . . . 196
89. Bible used at the Inauguration of Washington 202
90. Washington's Lepine Watch, Seal and Key 207
91. Washington's last Watch-seal 207
92. Washington's Dress Sword 211
93. Secretary and Circular Chair 215
94. Destruction of the Bastile 221
95. Key of the Bastile 223
96. Washington's Spy-glass 224
97. Washington's Pistol 226
98. Bust of M. Necker 229
99. Bust of Lafayette 230
100. Washington's English Coach 232
101. Emblazon .ng on Washington's Coach 233
102. Picture of a Panel on Washington's Coach 234
103. Cincinnati China 240
104. Mrs. Washington's China 241
105. China Butter-bowl and Dish 242
106. Wine-coolers and Coaster 251
107. Specimens of Washington's Plate 252
108. The Presidential Mansion 253
109. Martha Washington 261
1 10. Nelly Custis's Harpsichord 268
12 ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAOI
111. George Washington Lafayette 286
112. G. W. P. Custis at the age of seventeen years 294
113. Crayon Profile of Washington 296
114. Crayon Profile of Mrs. Washington 297
115. Washington's Inkstand 300
116. Mural Candelabra 301
117. Ancient Lantern 301
118. Sideboard, Tea-table and Punch-bowl 303
119. Washington's Silver Candlestick 303
120. Morning — a Landscape by Winstanley 305
121. Evening — a Landscape by Winstanley 305
122. Dr. James Craik 318
123. Bed and Bedstead on which Washington died 323
124. Room in which Washington died 324
125. Silver Shield on Washington's Coffin 327
126. Washington's Bier 329
127. The Old Vault in 1858 330
128. General Henry Lee 332
129. McPherson's Blue 334
130. Bushrod Washington 337
131. Westford 333
132. Washington's Marble Coffin 342
133. Lid of Washington's Coffin 342
134. Washington's Tomb 343
135. Washington's Liquor-chest 347
136. Washington's Mirror 347
137. Water-mark . 343
138. Washington's Address Card 348
139. Pitcher Portrait .350
MOUNT YERNON AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
K many an ancient volume in the lib- rary at Mount Yer- ; non, while the man- sion remained in the possession of the "Washington family, was the engraved book-plate of the il- lustrious proprietor, which displayed, as usual, the name and armorial bearings of the owner. The lan- guage of heraldry learnedly describes the family arms of "Washington as " argent, two bars gules in chief, three mullets of the second. Crest, a raven, with wings, indorsed proper, issuing out of a ducal coronet, or" All this may be in- interpreted, a white or silver shield, with two red bars across
WASHINGTON S BOOK-PLATE.
14 MOUNT VERNON
it, and above them three spur rowels, the combination ap- pearing very much like the stripes and stars on our national ensign. The crest, a raven of natural color issuing out of a golden ducal coronet. The three mullets or star-figures indi- cated the filial distinction of the third son.
Back into the shadowy past six hundred years and more we may look, and find the name of Washington presented with "honorable mention" in several counties in England, on the records of the field, the church, and the state. They were generally first-class agriculturists, and eminently loyal men when their sovereigns were in trouble. In that trying time for England's monarch, a little more than two hundred years ago, when a republican army, under the authority of a revo- lutionary parliament, was hunting King Charles the First, Sir Henry Washington, a nephew of the Duke of Buckingham, is observed as governor of Worcester, and its able defender during a siege of three months by the parliamentary troops under General Fairfax. And earlier than this, when Charles, as Prince Royal, was a suitor for the hand of the Infanta of Spain, we find a Washington attached to his person. The loyal James Howell, who suffered long imprisonment in Fleet-street Jail because of his attachment to Charles, was in the train of the Prince while at Madrid ; and from that city he wrote to his "noble friend, Sir John North," in the sum- mer of 1623, saying :
" Mr. Washington, the Prince his page is lately dead of a Calenture, and I was at his buriall under a Figtree behind my Lord of Bristol's house. A little before his death one Hoi- lard, an English Priest, went to tamper with him, and Sir
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
15
Edmund Varney meeting him coming down the stairs out of Washington^ chamber, they fell from words to blows : but they were parted. The business was like to gather very ill blond, and com to a great hight, had not Count Gondamar quasht it, which I beleeve he could not have done, unless the times had bin favorable ; for such is the reverence they bear to the Church here, and so holy a conceit they have of all Ecclesiastics, that the greatest Don in Spain wrill tremble to offer the meanest of them any outrage or affront."
CAVE CASTLE.
From this loyal family came emigrants to America nine years after King Charles lost his head. These were two
1C MOUNT VEKXOH
brothers, true Cavaliers, who could not brook the rule of Cromwell, the self-styled Lord Protector of England. They left their beautiful residence of Cave Castle, north of the Huinbcr, in Yorkshire, and sought more freedom of life in the virgin soil of the New World. And in later years the repre- sentatives of the Washingtous and Fairfaxes, who were neigh- bors and friends in Virginia, found themselves, in political positions, opposed to those of their ancestors; that of the former being the great leader of a republican army, and of the latter a most loyal adherent of the crown.
The Washingtons who first came to America seem not to have been possessed of much wealth. They brought with them no family plate as evidences of it ; for the heiress of the family had given her hand and fortune to an English baronet, the master of the fine estate of Studley Royal, where now the eldest son of the late Earl of Ripon. resides. It is believed that there is only one relic of the old Washington family in this country, and that is a small bronze mortar, having the letters " C. W." (the initials of CIMOX
>'-*!>-, "
WASHINGTON) and the date, "1664," cast upon it. That mortar is in In- dependence Hall, in Philadelphia.
The Northamptonshire family, from whom George Wash- ington was descended, wTore the motto seen upon his book- plate— EXITUS ACTAPKOBAT: "The end justifies the means;" and it was borne and heeded by the line from generation to generation, until the most illustrious of them all had achieved the greatest ends by the most justifiable means.
WASHINGTON MORTAR.
AXD ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
WASHINGTON S SEAL.
The annexed engraving is from an impression of General Washington's seal, bearing his family arms, attached to the death-warrant of a soldier executed at Morristown, in 1780. Below it is an engraving of the face of his seal-ring, « which also bears his arms and motto ; and also of two watch-seals which he wore together in early life. Upon each of the last two is engraved his mono- gram, one of them being a fac-simile of his written initials. One of these was lost by Washington himself on the bloody field of Monongahela, where Braddock was defeated in 1755 ; and the other by his nephew, in Virginia, more than twenty-five years ago. Both were found in the year 1854, and restored to the Washington family.*
Of all the volumes in the Mount Vernon library which contain Washington's book- plate none appears more interesting than Sir Matthew Ilale's Contemplations, Moral and Divine, printed at the beginning of the last century. It is well worn by frequent use ; for it was from that volume that Washington's mother drew many of those great maxims which she instilled into the mind of her WASHINGTON'S son, and wdiicli had a powerful influence in
SKAL-K1KG.
WATCH-SEALS.
* This statement is made on tlie authority of Charles J. Bushnell, Esq., of New York, whose investigations in numismatic science and kindred subjects have been careful and extensive. The engravings of the seals are copied, by his permission, from a work ol his now in preparation for the press. 2
18
MOUNT V E R N 0 X
moulding his moral character. Upon a fly-leaf of the volume are written, in bold characters, the names of the two wives of Augustine Washington, the father of our be- loved Friend. These were JANE BUTLER and MAEY BALL. Their names were written by themselves, the first with ink that retains its original blackness, and the second with a color that has faded to the tint of warm sepia.
FAC-SIMILE OF SIGNATURES.
These signatures send the thoughts on busy retrospective errands to the pleasant mansions and broad and fertile plant- ations of Virginia, when the Old Dominion was as loyal to the second King George of England as to the second King Charles in the days of Berkeley, almost a hundred years before ; or when royal governors held vice-regal courts at Williamsburg, the capital of the Commonwealth twenty years after repub- lican Bacon's torch had laid old Jamestown in ashes. Espe- cially do they send the thoughts to the beautiful spot near the Potomac, half way between Pope's and Bridge's Creek, in Westmoreland, where stood a modest mansion, surrounded by the holly and more stately trees of the forest, in which lived Mary, the mother of the great Washington.
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 19
In the possession of an old Virginian family may be seen a picture, in which is represented a rampant lion holding a globe in his paw, a helmet and shield, a vizor strong, and coat of mail and other emblems of strength and courage; and for a motto the words, from Ovid, Ccelumque tueri. On the back of the picture is written :
" The coat of arms of Colonel "William Ball, who came from England with his family about the year 1650, and settled at the mouth of Corotoman River, in Lancaster county, Vir- ginia, and died in 1669, leaving two sons, "William and Joseph, and one daughter, Hannah, who married Daniel Fox. William left eight sons (and one daughter), five of whom have now (Anno Domini 1779) male issue. Joseph's male issue is extinct. General George Washington is his grandson, by his youngest daughter, Mary." Here we have the Amer- ican pedigree of the mother of "Washington.
In that modest mansion near the Potomac, of which we have just spoken, a great patriot was born of a mother eight- and-twenty years of age, when the popular "William Gooch was royal governor of Virginia ; and in an old family Bible, in Hanover county, of quarto form, dilapidated by use and age, and covered with striped Virginia cloth, might have been seen, a few years ago, the following record, in the handwriting of the father of that Patriot :
" George Washington, son to Augustine and Mary his wife, was born y" llth day of February, 1731-2, about ten in the morning, and was baptized the 3d of April following; Mr, Beverly Whiting and Captain Christopher Brooks, godfathers, and Mrs. Mildred Gregory godmother."
Almost three hundred years ago Pope Gregory the Thir-
20
MOUNT VERNON
teenth ordained that ten days should be added to the tally of all past time since the birth of Jesus, to make up some frac- tional deficiencies in the calendar ; and twenty years after the above record was made, the British government ordered the Gregorian calendar, or new style, as it was called, to be adopted. The deficiency was then eleven days, and these were added. So we date the birth of Washington, and cele- brate its anniversary, on the twenty-second instead of the eleventh of February.
Washington's birth-place was a " four-roomed house, with a chimney at each end," perfectly plain outside and in. The
DUTCH TILE. — HALF THE SIZE OF THE ORIGINAL.
only approach to ornament was a Dutch-tiled chimney-piece in the best room, covered with rude pictures of Scriptural scenes ; but around the mansion there were thrift and abun- dance. George was the eldest of his mother's six children,
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 21
and only his infant years were passed under the roof where he first saw the light ; for fire destroyed the house, and his father removed to an estate in Stafford county, near Fredericksburg, and dwelt in an equally plain mansion, pleasantly seated near the north bank of the Rappahannock River.
RESIDENCE OF THB WASHINGTON FAMILY.
Of the birth-place of Washington nothing now remains but a chimney and a few scattered bricks and stones ; and around it, where the smiles of highest culture were once seen, there is an aspect of desolation that makes the heart feel sad. Some decayed fig-trees and tangled shrubs and vines, with here and there a pine and cedar sapling, tell, with silent eloquence, of neglect and ruin, and that decay has laid its blighting fingers
22
MOUNT VERNON
upon every work of man there. The vault of the Washington family, wherein many were buried, is so neglected that some of the remains exposed to view have been carried away by plunderers. All around it are stunted trees, shrubs, and briers ; and near it may be seen fragments of slabs once set up in commemoration of some of that honored family.
WASHINGTON S BIRTH-PLACE.
On the spot where Washington was born, the late George Washington Parke Custis, a grandson of Mrs. Washington, placed a piece of freestone in 1S15, with the simple, inscrip- tion:
HEKE,
ON THE UTII OF FEBRUARY, 1732, GEORGE WASHINGTON WAS BORN
"We gathered together," says Mr. Custis, in a published account, " the bricks of the ancient chimney that once formed the hearth around which Washington, in his infancy, had played, and constructed a rude kind of pedestal, on which we
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 23
reverently placed the FIRST STONE, commending it to the re- spect and protection of the American people in general, and the citizens of Westmoreland in particular." But such re- spect and protection have been withheld, and that stone is now in fragments and overgrown with brambles.
In this vicinity lived some of the Lees, always a distin- guished family in Virginia ; and one of the most intimate of Washington's friends, in his earliest childhood, was Richard Henry Lee,' afterward the eminent statesman and patriot. They were very nearly of the same age, Lee being one month the oldest. I have before me a copy of a letter written by each when they were nine years old, and which are supposed to be among the earliest, perhaps the very first, epistles penned by these illustrious men. They were sent to me a few years ago, by a son of Richard Henry Lee (who then possessed the originals), and are as follows :
KICHAKD HENRY LEE TO GEOEGE WASHINGTON.
" Pa brought me two pretty books full of pictures he got them in Alexandria they have pictures of dogs and cats and
tigers and elefants and ever so .many pretty things cousin bids
< me send you one of them it has a picture of an elefant and a
little indian boy on his back like uncle jo's sam pa says if I learn my tasks good he will let uncle jo bring me to sep you will you ask your ma to let you come to see me.
" Richard henry Lee."
GEORGE WASHINGTON'S REPLY.
" Dear Dickey I thank you very much for the pretty pic- ture book you gave me. Sam asked me to show him the
24: MOUNT VERNON
pictures and I showed him all the pictures in it ; and I read to him how the tame Elephant took care of the master's little boy, and put him on his back and would not let any body touch his master's little son. I can read three or four pages sometimes without missing a word. Ma says I may go to see you and stay all day with you next week if it be not rainy. She says I may ride my pony Hero if Uncle Ben will go with me and lead Hero. I have a little piece of poetry about the picture book you gave me, but I mustnt tell you wrho wrote
the poetry.*
" G. W.'s compliments to E. H. L., And likes his book full well, Henceforth will count him his friend, And hopes many happy days he may spend.
"Your good friend,
" George Washington.
" I am going to get a whip top soon, and you may see it and whip it."
Augustine Washington died in the spring of 1743, when his son George was eleven years of age, and by his last will and testament bequeathed his estate of Hunting Creek, upon a bay and stream of that name, near Alexandria, to Lawrence Washington, a son by his first wife, Jane Butler. It was a
* In a letter to me, accompanying the two juvenile epistles, Mr. Lee writes : "The letter of Richard Henry Lee was written by himself, and, uncorrected, was sent by him to his boy-friend, George Washington. The poetical effusion was, I have heard, written by a Mr. Howard, a gentleman who used to visit at the house of Mr. Washington."
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
25
noble domain of many hundred acres, stretching for miles along the Potomac, and bordering the estates of the Fairfaxes, Masons, and other distinguished families.
LAWRENCE WASHINGTON.
Lawrence, who seems to have inherited the military spirit of his family, had lately been to the wars. Admiral Vernon, commander-in-chief of England's navy in the West Indies, had lately chastised the Spaniards for their depredations upon British commerce, by capturing Porto Bello, on the isthmus of Darien. The Spaniards prepared to strike an avenging blow, and the French determined to help them. England and her colonies were aroused. Four regiments, for service in the West Indies, were to be raised in the American col-
MOUNT V K R N 0 X
onies ; and from Massachusetts to the Carolines, the fife and drum of the recruiting sergeant were lieard. Lawrence, then a spirited young man of twenty-two, was among the thou- sands who caught the infection, and obtaining a captain's
\
ADMIKAL VERNON.
commission, he embarked for the West Indies in 1741, with between three and four thousand men under General Went- worth. That officer and Admiral Vernon commanded a joint expedition against Carthagena, in South America, which re-
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 27
suited iii disaster. According to the best authorities not less than twenty thousand British soldiers and seamen perished, chiefly from a fatal sickness that prevailed, especially among the troops who were commanded by General Wentworth. To that scourge Thompson, in his " Summer," thus touchingly alludes :
'• You, gallant Yernon, saw The miserable scene ; you, pitying, saw To infant weakness sunk the warrior's arm ; Saw the deep-racking pang, the ghastly form. The lip pale-quivering, and the beamlcss eye No more with ardor bright ; you heard the groans Of agonizing ships, from shore to shore ; Heard, nightly plung'd amid the sullen waves, The frequent corse — while on each other fixed, In sad presage, the blank assistants seemed, Silent, to ask, whom fate would next demand."
In the midst of that terrible pestilence the system of Law- rence Washington received those seeds of fatal disease against whose growth it struggled manfully for ten years, and then yielded.
Lawrence returned home in the autumn of 1742, the provincial army in which he had served having been dis- banded, and Admiral Yernon and General Wentworth re- called to England. He had acquired the friendship and confidence of both those officers. For several years he kept up a correspondence with the former, and received from him a copy of a medal struck in commemoration of the capture of Porto Bello by Admiral Yernon. This was preserved at Mount Yernon until Washington's death, and is probably in possession of some member of the family. The only speci-
28 MOUNT VERNON
men of the medal I have ever seen is in my own possession, from which the engraving \vas made.
TUK VEE.VON MEDAL.
Lawrence intended to go to England, join the regular army, and seek preferment therein ; but love changed his resolution and the current of his life, for
" Love rules the court the camp, the grove, And man below, and saints above.''
Beautiful Anne, the eldest daughter of the Honorable Wil- liam Fairfax, of Fairfax county, became the object of his warm attachment, and they were betrothed. Their nuptials were about to be celebrated in the spring of 1743, when a sudden attack of gout in the stomach deprived Lawrence of his father. But the marriage took place in July. All thoughts of military life as a profession passed from the mind of Lawrence, and, taking possession of his Hunting Creek estate, he erected a plain, substantial mansion upon the highest eminence along the Potomac front of his domain, and named the spot MOUNT YERNON, in honor of the gallant admiral.
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 29
In that mansion Lawrence resided until his death, and but little change was made in its appearance from the time when it came into the possession of his brother George by inheri- tance, until the close of the Old War for Independence. It has been described as a house of the first class then occupied by thrifty Virginia planters; two stories in height, with a porch in front, and a chimney built inside, at each end, con- trary to the prevailing style. It stood upon a most lovely spot, on the brow of a gentle slope which ended at a thickly- wooded precipitous river bank, its summit nearly one hundred feet above the water. Before it swept the Potomac with a magnificent curve, its broad bosom swarming with the grace- ful swan, the gull, the wild duck, and smaller water-fowl; and beyond lay the green fields and shadowy forests of Mary- land.
When Lawrence was fairly settled, with his bride, in this new and pleasant home, little George was a frequent and much-petted visitor at Mount Vernon. His half-brother loved him tenderly, and after their father's death he took a paternal interest in all his concerns. The social influences to which lie was subjected were of the highest order. The Fair- faxes held the first rank in wealth and social position, both in England and in Virginia; and the father-in-law of Law- rence, who occupied a beautiful country seat not far from Mount Vernon, called Belvoir, was a man of distinction, having served as an officer of the British army in the East and West Indies, and officiated as governor of New Provi- dence, one of the Bermudas. He now managed an immense landed estate belonging to his cousin, Lord Fairfax, a tall, gaunt, rawboned, near-sighted man, upon whom had fallen
30 MOUNT VERNON
the snows of sixty winters, and who, made shy and eccentric by disappointed love in early life, was now in Yirginia, and living at Belvoir, but secretly resolving to go over the Blue Mountains of the "West, and make his home in the deep wilderness, away from the haunts of men. Thither he went a few years later, and in the great valley of Yirginia took up his abode in a lodge at a spot where he resolved to build a manor-house, in the midst of ten thousand acres of arable and grazing land, call it Greenway Court, and live, a solitary lord over a vast domain. But the mansion was never built, and in that lodge (which remained until a few years ago) the lord of the manor lived during all the stormy days of the French and Indian war, and as a stanch loyalist throughout the struggles of the Americans for independence, until the news came one day that his young friend Washington had captured Corn- wallis and all his army. Then, says tradition, he called to his servant and said, " Come, Joe, carry me to my bed, for I'm sure it's high time for me to die ! "
" Then up rose Joe, all at the word,
And took his master's arm, And to his bed he softly led
The lord of Greenway farm. Then thrice he called on Britain's name,
And thrice he wept full sore, Then sighed — '0 Lord, thy will be done!'
And word spake never more."
It was early in 1782, at the age of ninety-two years, that Lord Fairfax died at Greenway Court, loved by many for his generosity and benevolence.
Lawrence Washington MTas also distinguished for his wealth
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 31
and intelligence. He was adjutant-general of his district, with the rank and pay of major, and at this time was a popu- lar member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. At Mount Vernon and at Belvoir the sprightly boy George, who was a favorite everywhere, became accustomed to the refinements and amenities of English social life, in its best phases, and this had a marked influence upon his future character.
There were other influences there which made a deep im- pression upon the mind of the thoughtful boy. Sometimes the companions-in-arms of his brother, or officers from some naval vessel that came into the Potomac, would be guests at Mount Yernon, and perils by field and flood would be related. In these narratives Sir William Fairfax often joined, and related his experience in the far-off Indies, in marches, battles, sieges, and retreats. These fired the soul of young Wash- ington with longings for adventure, and accordingly, we find him, at the age of fourteen years, preparing to enter the English navy as a midshipman, a warrant having been pro- cured. His brother and Mr. Fairfax encouraged his inclina- tion, and his mother's reluctant consent was obtained. A vessel-of-war was lying in the Potomac, and the lad's luggage was on board, when his mother received the following letter from her brother, in England, dated Stratford-by-Bow, 19th May, 1747 :
" I understand that you are advised and have some thoughts of putting your son George to sea. I think he had better be put apprentice to a tinker, for a common sailor before the mast has by no means the common liberty of the subject ; for they will press him from a ship where he has fifty shillings a
32 MOUNT VERNON
month and make him take twenty-three, and cut, and slash, arid use him like a negro, or rather like a dog. And, as to any considerable preferment in the navy, it is not to be ex- pected, as there are always so many gaping for it here who have interest, and he has none. And if he should get to be master of a Virginia ship (which it is very difficult to do), a planter that has three or four hundred acres of land and three or four slaves, if he be industrious, may live more comfort- ably, and leave his family in better bread, than such a master of a ship can. He must not be too
hasty to be rich, but go on gently and with patience, as things will naturally go. This method, without aiming at being a fine gentleman before his time, will carry a man more com- fortably and surely through the world than going to sea, unless it be a great chance indeed. I pray God keep you and yours.
" Your loving brother,
" JOSEPH BALL."
This letter, without doubt, made the mother decide to act according to the desire of her heart, for already a friend had written to Lawrence, " I am afraid Mrs. Washington will not keep up to her first resolution. * * I find
that one word against his going has more weight than ten for it." She could not expose her son to the hardships and perils of the British navy, so vividly portrayed by his uncle. Her consent was withdrawn, and George Washington, with dis- appointed ambition, returned to school, fell desperately in love with a " lowland beauty" (who reciprocated not his pas- sion, but became the mother of General Henry Lee), indited
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 33
sentimental verses, as young lovers are apt to do, sighed for a time in aieat unhappiness, and then went to live with his brother at Mount Yeinon, in partial forgetf illness that he had once dreamed that
" She was his life,
The ocean to the river of his thoughts, "Which terminated all."
Xow it was that young Washington's real intimacy with the Fairfax family commenced, and an attachment was formed between himself and George William Fairfax, his senior by six or seven years, who had just brought his bride and her sister to Belvoir.
Young Washington's heart was tender and susceptible, and that bride's beautiful sister tried its constancy to his first love very sorely. To his young friend " Robin," he wrote : " My residence is at present at his lordship's, where I might, was my beart disengaged, pass my time very pleasantly, as there is a very agreeable young lady lives in the same house (Colonel George Fairfax's wife's sister) ; but as that is only adding fuel to fire, it makes me the more uneasy, for by often and un- avoidably being in company with her, revives my former passion for your Lowland Beauty; whereas, was I to live more retired from young women, I might in some measure alleviate my sorrows, by burying that chaste and troublesome passion in the grave of oblivion." Thus wrote George Wash- ington before he was sixteen years of age.
He was soon taken from these temptations. He was a tall, finely-formed, athletic youth, and Lord Fairfax, who was a passionate fox-hunter, though old in years, iavited him one day 3
34 MOUNT VERNON
to join him in the chase. His lordship was so charmed with his young friend's boldness in the saddle and enthusiastic pursuit of the hounds and game, that he took him to his bosom as a companion ; and many a hard day's ride this roung and old man had together after that, in the forests of Virginia.
T But a more noble, because a more useful pursuit than the mere pleasures of the chase, now offered its attractions to the lad. Master Williams had taught him the mysteries of sur- veying, and the old Lord Fairfax, having observed his prac- tice of the art at Mount Vernon, and his extreme care and accuracy, proposed to him to go to his broad possessions beyond the Blue Kidge, where lawless intruders were seated, and prepare his domain for settlement, by running boundary lines between large sections. The lad gladly acceded to the proposition, and just a month from the time he was sixteen years of age, he set off upon the arduous and responsible enterprise. And to this day a little log-house, near Battle Town, in Clarke county, is pointed out to the traveller, wherein the young surveyor lodged;; and in the same county, not far from Winchester, stood, a few years ago, the lodge of Green- way Court.
In the wilderness, around the south branch of the Potomac, the future Leader received those lessons in wood-craft — that personal knowledge of the country and its dusky inhabitants, and, above all, that spirit of self-reliance which was ever a most marked and important trait in his character — which fitted him for the great duties of a commander.
So satisfactory were young Washington's services on that occasion, that he received, soon after his return, the appoint-
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 35
inent of public surveyor, and upon the records of Culpepper county may be read, under date of July 20th, 1749 (O. S.), that " GEORGE WASHINGTON, Gent., produced a commission from the President and Master of William and Mary College, ap- pointing him to be surveyor of this county, which was read, and thereupon he took the usual oaths to his Majesty's person and government, and took and subscribed the abjuration oath and test, and then took the oath of a surveyor, according to law." Part of each year he was beyond the Alleghanies, with no other instruments than compass and chain, acquiring strength of limb and purpose for future great achievements, and put- ting money in his purse at the rate of a doubloon and some- times six pistoles a day. These expeditions he always remem- bered as the greatest pleasures of his youth. ")(,
After Washington's death, more than fifty years later, the simple compass and chain and other mathematical instru- ments of his earlier and later years, were distributed among his family connections, but only one of them, a small library instrument, was mentioned in his will, as follows :
" To David Stuart I give my large shaving and dressing table, and my telescope"
Dr. Stuart married the widow of John Parke Custis, the son of Mrs. Washington. The telescope is now in possession of his granddaughter, wife of the Reverend A. B. Atkinson, of Germantown, Pennsylvania.
And now another and more extended field of action opened before the young resident at Mount Vernon. Beneath the roof of that pleasant mansion, toward the spring of 1751, he received- from acting Governor Burwell the commission of adjutant of his military district, with the rank and pay of
36
MOUNT VEBNON
major. It was an acceptable honor. His military spirit was kindling; for it had been fanned by old Major Muse, a fellow-soldier with Lawrence at Carthagena, who was a fre-
WASHINGTON'S TELESCOPE.
quent and welcome guest at Mount Vernon, and by the stout Dutchman, Yan Braam (who afterward figured ingloriously in history), who had taught him the art of fencing.
Young Washington had scarcely taken his initial steps in the performance of his new duties when he was drawn from public life. Dark and ominous shadows were alternating with the sweet domestic sunlight that smiled so pleasantly around Mount Ycrnon. They were cast by the raven wing of the angel of disease. A hectic glow was upon the cheeks
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 37
of Lawrence Washington, and his physicians advised him to go to the more genial climate of Barbadoes in search of health. George went with him. It was in bright September, 1751, when they sailed, and in dark and stormy January he returned to tell the anxious wife of his brother that her loved one must go to Bermuda in the spring ; for the hectic glow was growing brighter and his manly strength less. She was preparing to join him there, when word came that hope's promises had faded forever, and that her husband was coming home to die. He came when the bloom of May was upon the land, and before the close of July he was laid in the grave, at the early age of thirty-four years, leaving a wife and infant child.
And now George "Washington, a noble youth of twenty, his fine manly face a little scarred by the smallpox, that seized him while he was in Barbadoes, was at Mount Yernon as the faithful executor of the last will and testament of his brother. He was also prospective heir of that whole beau- tiful domain, Lawrence having left it to his daughter, with the proviso that in the event of her death that and other lands should become the property of George. That contingency soon occurred. Little Jenny died, and George "Washington became the owner of Mount Vernon. Already, by the will of his father, he was the proprietor of the paternal estate on the Rappahannock. Now he ranked among the wealthier of the planters of the Old Dominion.
The development of great and stirring events soon called Washington to the forests, not with compass and chain, and rield-book, but with sword and pistol, and diplomatic com- mission. Then his hero-life began.
38 MOUNT VERNON
For a thousand years a national feud had existed between Gauls and Britons — French and English ; and their colonists, seated a little way apart in the New World, cherished this sentiment of utter dislike. It was intensified by jealousy ; for they were competitors for a prize no less than that of supreme dominion in America.
The English were planters — the French were traders ; and while the stations of the latter were several hundred miles in the interior, away from the settlements of the former, on the seaboard, the equanimity of both parties was quite undis- turbed. But when, after the capture of Louisburg by the English, in 174:5, the French adopted vigorous measures for opposing the extension of British power in America; when they built strong vessels at the foot of Lake Ontario ; made treaties of friendship and alliance with the Delaware and Shawnee tribes of Indians ; strengthened their fortress at the mouth of the Niagara River, and commenced the erection of a cordon of fortifications, more than sixty in number, between Montreal and New Orleans, the English were aroused to immediate and effective action, in defence of the territorial rights conceded to them in their ancient charters. By virtue of these, they claimed absolute dominion westward to the Pacific Ocean, south of the latitude of the north shore of Lake Erie; while the French' claimed a title to all the territory watered by the Mississippi and its tributaries, because they had made the first explorations and settlements in that region. The claims of the real owner — the Indian — were not consid- ered. It was a significant question, asked by a messenger sent by sachems to Mr. Gist, agent of the English Ohio Com pany — "Where is the Indian's land? The English claim it
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 39
all on one side, of the river, the French on the other. Where does the Indian's land lie ? "
At length English traders who went to the Ohio region were driven away or imprisoned by the French, and the latter commenced building forts south of Lake Erie. Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, thought these proceedings rather in- solent, arid he sent Major Washington, then less than twenty- two years of age, to carry a letter of remonstrance to the French commander in that region.
Seven persons besides Major "Washington composed the expedition, and among them was Van Braam, "Washington's Dutch fencing-master, who could speak French fluently, and went as interpreter. They assembled at Williamsburg, and made every preparation for a journey of several hundred miles on horseback, through an unbroken wilderness. They were furnished by the governor with horses, pack-saddles, tent, arms, ammunition, a leathern camp-chest, provisions,
PACK-SADDLE. LEATHERN CAMP-CHESP.
and every other necessary, and on the 31st of October, 1753, departed for the head-waters of the Ohio. They made a most
ttO MOUNT VERNON
perilous journey, and, after an absence of seven weeks, Major "Washington again stood in the presence of Governor Din- widdie, his mission fulfilled to the satisfaction of all. Two days afterward he returned, first to his mother's home, near Fredericksburg, then to Belvoir, and finally to Mount Vernon, where he spent a greater portion of the winter and spring of
1754:.
But Major Washington was not allowed to remain long in seclusion. In the late expedition he had exhibited qualities too great and useful to be suffered to repose. War with the French appeared inevitable. The latter continued their hos- tile preparations in the Ohio region, and a colonial military force, to be sent thither, was organized in the spring of 1754:. Colonel Joshua Fry was appointed its commander, and Major Washington his lieutenant.
For a while Mount Yernon appeared like a recruiting station. At length all preparations were completed, and on the 2d of April, Major Washington, with the advanced corps, marched from Alexandria toward the Ohio. After a toilsome journey of eighteen days, over the Blue Ridge, they reached the mouth of Wills' Creek (now Cumberland), where Wash- ington, for the first time, occupied a house for his head- quarters as a military commander. It was the dwelling of a pioneer. It has long since passed away, but the pencil has preserved its features, and now, at the distance of time of more than a hundred years, we may look upon the portrait of WASHINGTON'S FIRST HEAD-QUARTERS.
It is not our purpose to trace the events of Washington's life in their consecutive order. We propose to give delinea- tions of only such as held intimate relations with his beautiful
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
41
WASHINGTON S FIRST IIEAD-Q0ARTEUS.
home on the Potomac, which, for more than forty years, was to him the dearest spot on the earth.
During the war between the French and English, that com- menced in earnest in 1755, when Braddock came to America as commander-in-chief of the British forces, until the close of the campaign of 1758, when the French and their dusky allies were driven from the forks of the Ohio, Washington was almost continually in the public service, and spent but little time at Mount Yernon. lie had been promoted to Colonel in 175-i, but, on account of new military arrange- ments by the blundering, wrong-headed, narrow-minded Gov- ernor Dinwiddie, he had left the service with disgust, and retired to the quiet of private life at Mount Vernon, with a determination to spend his life there in the pursuits of agricul- ture— pursuits which he always passionately loved, and longed for most earnestly when away from them.
General Braddock, an. Irish officer of forty years' experience
MOUNT V E R N 0 X
in the army, came to America with two regiments early in 1758, and called a council of royal governors at Alexandria, to arrange a regular campaign against the French. Brad- dock soon heard, from every lip, encomiums of the character of Colonel Washington, and he invited him to Alexandria. Mount Yerrion was only a little more than an hour's ride distant, and Washington, whose military ardor was again aroused by preparations for conflict, was swift to obey the summons. Prom Mount Yernon he had looked upon the ships-of-war and transports upon the bosom of the Potomac
that bore Braddock and his troops, and the thought that only a few miles from his dwelling, preparations were in progress for a brilliant campaign, under the command of one of the most ex- perienced generals of the British army, stirred the very depths of his soul, and made him yearn to go again to the field.
At the residence of Jonathan Carey, where Braddock made his head-quarters, the young provin- cial colonel and the veteran gen- eral first met, at the close of March. Carey's was then the finest house in Alexandria, sur-
THE CAKKT HOUSB IN 1859-
rounded by a noble lawn that
was shaded by lofty forest trees, and its gardens extending down a gentle slope to the shore of the Potomac. Now it
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 43
stands within the city, hemmed in by buildings and paved streets, and forms a part of Newton's Hotel. The convention of governors met in it in April, and there the ensuing cam- paign was planned.
Braddock invited Washington to join his military family, as aid, with the rank he had lately borne. The mother of the young colonel hastened to Mount Yernon to persuade him not to accept it. She urged the claims of his and her own affairs upon his attention, as strong reasons for him not to enter the army again, and for two days she held his decision in abey- ance, for filial obedience was one of the strongest sentiments of Washington's nature. But it was not strong enough to restrain him on this occasion — or, rather, God's will must be obeyed — and he left Mount Yernon for Alexandria, after her departure for the Rappahannoek, and was welcomed into Braddock's family with joy by Captains Orme and Morris.
On the 9th of July following we behold him upon the bloody field of the Monongahela, shielded by God's provi- dence, untouched by ball or bayonet, arrow or javelin, while carnage was laying its scores of victims around him, and his commander was borne mortally wounded from the field — we behold him riding from point to point, bringing order out of confusion, and leading away from that accldama the shattered battalions of the proud army of the morning to a place of safety and repose. Then he returned to Mount Yernon, weak from recent sickness and exposure in the field. In his little library there he wrote to his brother, then a member of the House of Burgesses at Williamsburg, and thus summed up his military career :
" I was employed to go a journey in the winter, when 1
4:4 MOUNT VERNON
believe few or none would have undertaken it, and what did I get by it? My expenses borne! I was then appointed, with trifling pay, to conduct a handful of men to the Ohio. What did I get by that? Why, after putting myself to a considerable expense in equipping and providing necessaries for the campaign, I went out, was soundly beaten, and lost all ! Came in, and had my commission taken from me ; or, in other words, my command reduced, under pretence of an order from home. I then went out a volunteer with General Braddock, and lost all my horses, and many other things. But this being a voluntary act, I ought not to have mentioned it ; nor should I have done it, were it not to show that I have been on the losing order ever since I entered the service, which is now nearly two years."
But what wonderful and necessary lessons for the future had Washington learned during that time !
Mount Vernon saw but little of its master during the next four years ; for the flame of war lighted up the land from Acadia, and along the St. Lawrence, away down to the beau- tiful Cherokee country, in Western Georgia and Carolina, and Washington was most of the time in camp, except from December, 1757, until March, 1758, when he was an invalid at home.
In February, 1756, we find him, accompanied by two aides, journeying to Boston, to confer with General Shirley con- cerning military rank in Virginia. Little did he then think that twenty years later he would again be there directing a siege against the New England capital, in command of rebels against the crown he was then serving !
We find him lingering in ]STew York, on his return. The
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
45
young soldier, apparently invincible to the mortal weapons of war, was sorely smitten there by the " sly archer" concealed in the bright eyes, blooming cheeks, and winning ways of Mary Phillipse, the heiress of a broad domain, stretching many a mile along the Hudson. The young soldier lingered
MARY PHILLIPSK.
in her presence as long as duty would permit, and he would fain have carried her with him to Virginia as a bride, but his natural diffidence kept the momentous question unspoken in his heart, and his fellow aide-de-camp in Braddock's family, Roger Morris, bore away the prize. Mary Phillipse did not become the mistress of Mount Yernon, but reigned, as beau- teous queen, in a more stately mansion on the bank of the
46 MOUNT VERNON
Harlem River, where, twenty years later, Washington, as leader of a host of Americans, in arms against the king, held his head-quarters, the master and mistress of the mansion being proscribed as " enemies to their country ! "
MORRIS S HOUSE.
But, three years later, there was a presiding angel over the mansion on Mount Yernon. Meanwhile the tramp of steeds, the clangor of arms, and every sound betokening warlike prep- arations, were heard there, and the decisive campaign of 1758 was opened.
"Washington went to the camp as soon as his health would permit ; and toward Fort du Quesne, at the confluence of the forks of the Ohio, quite a large army made its way. Wasting delays and. weary marches consumed the summer time; and late in autumn, having traversed deep forests and rugged mountains, the invading army found rest, beyond the Alle- ghanies. Colonel Washington, with an advanced guard, took possession of all that was left of Fort du Quesne, where Pitts- burg now stands. It had been the prize for which Braddock contended — the nest from which came the vultures that
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 47
preyed upon the frontier settlements. Over its smoking ruins the red cross of St. George was unfurled, where for four years had waved the lilies of France. Then French dominion ceased southward of Lake Erie ; and the young hero, whose wisdom, skill, and valor had contributed so largely toward the accomplishment of that result, returned to Mount Vernon sick and wearied, fully resolved to leave the army forever, and seek repose and happiness, usefulness and fair fame, in do- mestic and civil life.
For these Washington was now prepared. During the previous spring, while on his way to Williamsburg, from his camp at Winchester, he had been taught to love one of the best of Virginia's daughters ; and in the autumn, while he was making his toilsome march toward Fort du Quesne, he had been elected a delegate to the Virginia House of Burgesses.
The story of Washington's love and courtship is simple, yet full of the elements of romance. No words can better tell that story than those used for the purpose, in after years, by a grandson of the lady.* " It was in 1758," he says, " that Washington, attired in military undress, and attended by a body servant, tall and militaire as his chief, was crossing William's Ferry over the Pamunkey River, a branch of the York River. On the boat touching the southern or New Kent side, the soldier's progress was arrested by one of those personages who give the beau ideal of the Virginia gentleman of the old regime — the very soul of kindliness and hospitality.
* The late George "Washington Parke Custis, the adopted son of "Washington. See Custis's Recollections of Washington. New York, 1859.
48 MOUNT VERNON
It was in vain the soldier urged his business at Williamsburg, important communications to the governor, etc. Mr. Cham- berlayne, on whose domain the militaire had just landed, would hear of no excuse. Colonel Washington's was a name and character so dear to all the Virginians that his passing by one of the old castles of the Dominion without calling and partaking of the hospitalities of the host was entirely out of the question.
"The colonel, however, did not surrender at discretion, but stoutly maintained his ground, till Chamberlayne bringing up his reserve, in the intimation that he would introduce his Mend to a young and charming widow, then beneath his roof, the soldier capitulated, on condition that he should dine — only dine — and then, by pressing his charger and borrowing of the night, he would reach Williamsburg before his Excel- lency could shake off his morning slumbers. Orders were accordingly issued to Bishop, the Colonel's body -servant and faithful follower, who, together with the fine English charger, had been bequeathed by the dying Braddock to Major Wash- ington, on the famed and fatal field of the Monongahela. Bishop, bred in the school of European discipline, raised his hand to his cap, as much as to say, ' Your honor's orders shall be obeyed.'
"The colonel now proceeded to the mansion, and was intro- duced to various guests (for when was a Virginian domicile of the olden time without guests?) and, above all, to the charming widow. Tradition relates that they were mutually pleased on this their first interview. Nor is it remarkable. They were of an age when impressions are strongest. The lady was fair to behold, of fascinating manners, and splen-
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 49
didly endowed with worldly benefits. The hero, fresh from his early fields, redolent of fame, and with a form on which
" ' Every god did seem to set his seal, To give the world assurance of a man.'
u The morning passed pleasantly away ; evening came, with Bishop, true to his orders and firm at his post, holding the favorite charger with one hand, while the other was waiting to offer the ready stirrup.
" The sun sank in the horizon, and yet the colonel appeared not. And then the old soldier marvelled at his chief's delay. k'Twas strange, 'twas passing strange — surely he was not wont to be a single moment behind his appointments, for he was the most punctual of all punctual men.' Meantime, the host enjoyed the scene of the veteran on duty at the gate, while the colonel was so agreeably employed in the parlor, and proclaiming that no guest ever left his house after sunset, his military visitor was, without much difficulty, persuaded to order Bishop to put up the horses for the night.
" The sun rode high in the heavens the ensuing day, when the enamored soldier pressed with his spur his charger's side, and speeded on his way to the seat of government, where, having dispatched his public business, he retraced his steps, and, at the White House, a marriage engagement took place."
That " charming widow" was Martha Custis, daughter of John Dandridge, whose husband, Daniel Parke Custis, had been dead between two and three years. He had left her with two young children and a very large fortune in lands and money, the legal evidence of which, in the form of deeds, mortgages, bonds, and certificates of deposit in the Bank of
50
MOUNT VERNON
DANIEL PARKS CUSTIS.
England, were contained in a strong iron box, which is care- fully preserved by her de- scendants, at their beau- tiful seat at Arlington, on the Potomac, opposite Washington City.
"And much," continues the writer we have quoted, "hath the biographer heard of that marriage of
Washington, from the gray haired domestics who waited at
the board where love made the feast and the Virginia colonel
was the guest.
MRS. COSTIS S IRON CHEST.
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. M
" ' And so you remember,' I said to old Cully, my grand- mother's servant, when in his hundredth year — ' and so you remember when Colonel Washington came a-courting your young mistress?'
'"Ay, master, that I do,' said Cully. 'Great times, sir, great times — shall never see the like again.'
" ' And Washington looked something like a man — a proper man, hejr, Cully?'
" ' Never seed the like, sir — never the like of him, though 1 have seen many in my day — so tall, so straight, and then he sat on a horse and rode with such an air ! Ah, sir, he was like no one else ! Many of the grandest gentlemen, in the gold lace, were at the wedding ; but none looked like the man himself.' "
The marriage of Washington occurred on the 17th of January, (6th Old Style), 1759, at the "White House," the residence of his bride, in New Kent county, not far from Williamsburg. The officiating clergyman was the Reverend David Mossom, who, for forty years was rector of the neigh- boring parish of St. Peter's. Washington was then an attend- ant member of the House of Burgesses, and for three months, while official duties detained him at Williamsburg, he resided at the " White House." When the session had ended, lie returned to Mount Yernon, taking with him the future mis- tress of the mansion, and her two children, John Parke and Martha Parke Custis.
Then commenced that sweet domestic life at Mount Vernon, which always possessed a powerful charm for its illustrious owner. He early wrote to his friend, Richard Washington, in London :
MOUNT V K R N 0 N
MES. WASHINGTON S CHILDREN.
" I am now, 1 believe, fixed in this seat with an agreeable partner for life, and I hope to find more happiness in retire- ment than I ever experienced in the wide and bustling world." He was then seven-and-twenty years of age, and over six feet two inches in height, and admirably proportioned. His hair was a rich dark-brown ; his eyes grayish-blue and expressive of deep thought ; his complexion florid, and his features regular and rather heavy.
Washington's wife was three months younger than himself. She was a small, plump, elegantly formed woman. Her eyes were dark and expressive of the most kindly good nature ; her complexion fair ; her features beautiful ; and her whole face
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
beamed with intelligence. Her temper, though quick, was sweet and placable, and her manners were extremely winning. She was full of life, loved the society of her friends, always
MIIS. WASHINGTON AT THE TIME OP HER MARRIAGE.
dressed with a scrupulous regard to the requirements of the best fashions of the day, and was, in every respect, a brilliant member of the social circles which, before the revolution, composed the vice-regal court at the old Virginia capital.
Washington, at this time, possessed an ample fortune, in- dependent of that of his wife. His estate of Mount Vernon he described as most pleasantly situated in " a high, healthy country ; in a latitude between the extremes of heat and cold, on one of the finest rivers in the' world — a river well stocked with various kinds of fish at all seasons of the year, and in
54 MOUNT VKRNOX
the spring with shad, herrings, bass, carp, sturgeon, etc., in abundance. The borders of the estate," he continued, " are washed by more than ten miles of tide- water ; several valuable fisheries appertain to it ; the whole shore, in fact, is one entire fishery." Such was the delightful home to which Washington took his bride in the spring of 1759.
At that time, almost every manufactured article for domestic use, was imported from England. It is amusing and interest- ing to observe the difference in the items of orders sent out to London from Mount Yernon within the space of two years. First, as a bachelor, Washington orders :
"Five pieces of Irish Linnen.
1 piece finest Cambric.
2 pr. fine worked ruffles, at 20*. a pr. 2 setts compleat shoe brushes.
^ doz. pr. thread hose, at 5*.
1 compleat Saddle and Bridle, and 1 sett Holster caps, and Housing of fine Blue Cloth with a small edging of Em- broidering round them.
As much of the best superfine blue Cotton Velvet as will make a Coat, Waistcoat, and Breeches for a Tall Man, with a fine silk button to suit it, and all other neces- sary trimmings and linings, together with garters for the
Breeches.
t
6 prs. of the very neatest shoes, viz : 2 pr. double channelled pumps ; two pr. turned ditto, and two pair stitched shoes, to be made by one Didsbury over Colonel Boiler's last, but to be a little wider over the instep.
C prs. gloves, 3 pairs of which to be proper for riding, and
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 5o
to have slit tops ; the whole larger than the middle
size."
A little later, in apparent expectation of a wife at some future day, the careful bachelor prepares the mansion for her reception. In September, 1757, he wrote to Richard Wash- ington, saying:
" Be pleased, over and above what I have wrote for in a letter of the 13th of April, to send me 1 doz. Strong Chairs, of
CHAIKS ONCIS AT MOUNT VKKNON,
about 15 shillings a piece, the bottoms to be exactly made by the enclosed dimensions, and of three different colors to suit the paper of three of the bed-chambers, also wrote for in my last. I must acquaint you, sir, with the reason of this request. 1 have one dozen chairs that were made in the country ; neat,
56 MOUNT VERNON
but too weak for common sitting. I therefore propose to take the bottoms out of those and put them into these now ordered, while the bottoms which you send will do for the former, and furnish the chambers. For this reason the workmen must be very exact, neither making the bottoms larger nor smaller than the dimensions, otherwise the change can't be made. Be kind enough to give directions that these chairs, equally with the others and 'the tables, be carefully packed and stowed. "With- out this caution, they are liable to infinite damage."
In 1759 (the year of Washington's marriage), we have the order of a husband instead of that of a bachelor. The items are quite different, and were evidently dictated by the sweet little wife, leaning lovingly, perhaps, upon the broad shoulder of her noble lord. He directs his friend in London to send him :
u 1 Salmon-colored Tabby [velvet] of the enclosed pattern, with Sattin flowers ; to be made in a sack and coat.
1 Cap, Handkerchief, and Tucker [a piece of lace or linen pinned to the top of women's stays] and Euffles, to be made of Brussells lace or Point, proper to be worn with the above negligee ; to cost £20.
1 piece Bag Holland, at 6*. a yard.
2 fine flowered Lawn Aprons. 2 double handkerchiefs.
2 prs. women's white silk hose.
6 pr. fine cotton do.
4 pr Thread do. four threaded.
1 p. black and 1 pr. white Sattin Shoes of the smallest fives.
4 pr Callimanco do.
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 57
1 fashionable Hat or Bonnet, 6 p. Women's best Kid Gloves.
0 pr. ditto mitts.
£ doz. Knots and Breast Knots.
1 doz. round Silk stay laces. 1 black Mask.
1 doz most fashionable Cambrick Pocket Handkerchiefs.
2 pr. neat Small Scissors. 1 Ib Sewing Silk, shaded.
Real Miniken pins and hair pins, and 4 pieces Binding
Tape. Six Ibs perfumed powder.
3 Ibs best Scotch Snuff.
3 Ibs best Yiolette Strasbourg Snuff.
1 pr narrow white Sattin ribbon, pearl e Ige. A puckered petticoat of a fashionable color. A silver Tabby velvet petticoat.
2 handsome breast flowers. Hair pins — sugar candy.
2 pr. small silver Ear-rings for servants.
8 Ibs Starch.
2 Ibs Powdered Blue.
2 oz. Coventry Thread, one of which to be very fine.
1 case of Pickles to consist of Anchovies, Capers, Olives.
Salad Oil, and one bottle Ind'an Mangoes. 1 Large Cheshire Cheese.
4 Ibs Green Tea.
10 gross best Corks.
25 Ibs best jar Raisins.
25 Ibs Almonds, in the Shell.
58 MOUNT VERNON
•
1 hhd best Porter.
10 loaves double and 10 single refined Sugar. 12 Ibs best mustard.
2 doz. Jack's best playing cards.
3 gallons of Rhenish in bottles. 100 Ibs white Biscuit.
1£ doz. Bell glasses for Garden.
1 more Window Curtain and Cornice.
2 more Chair bottoms, such as were written for in a former invoice."
Such were Washington's orders for his house at that time. These items were followed by others pertaining to his farming operations and the servants upon his estate ; and also medi- cines for family use.
And now, the mansion at Mount Vernon having an accom- plished mistress to preside over its hospitalities, and to receive and entertain some of the best society of Virginia, articles of taste were introduced to embellish it. In the handwriting of the master we find the duplicate of an order, as follows :
" DIRECTIONS FOR THE BUSTS. — One of Alexander the Great ; another of Julius Caesar ; another of Charles XII. of Sweden ; and a fourth of the King of Prussia.
" N. B. These are not to exceed fifteen inches in height, nor ten in width.
"2 other Busts of Prince Eugene and the Duke of Marl- borough, somewhat smaller.
" 2 Wild Beasts, not to exceed twelve inches in height^ nor eighteen in length.
" Sundry ornaments for Chimney-piece."
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 59
These items indicate the military taste of Washington at that time, and show his reverence for the great military leaders of whom history had made her enduring records. Many years later, when Washington had become as renowned as they, the Great Frederick sent him a portrait of himself, accompanied by the remarkable words — " From the Oldest General in Eu- rope to the Greatest General in the World !"
Two years after his marriage, Washington sent the following order to Robert Carey, Esq., in London :
"FoK MASTER CUSTIS, 8 YEARS OLD.
" 1 handsome suit of Winter Cloathes.
A suit of Summer ditto, very light.
2 pieces Nankeens with trimmings.
1 silver laced hat.
6 pair fine Cotton Stockings.
1 pr fine worsted ditto.
4 pr. Strong Shoes.
1 pr. neat Pumps.
1 p. gloves.
2 hair bags.
1 piece ribbon for ditto.
1 p. silver Shoe and Knee buckles.
1 p. Sleeve buttons.
A Small Bible neatly bound in Turkey, and John Parke
Custis wrote in gilt letters on the inside of the cover. A neat Small Prayer Book bound as above, with John Parke
Custis, as above. 1 piece Irish linen, at ~L#.
3 pr shoes for a boy 14 y'rs old.
MOUNT VERNON
CDSTIS 8 ARMS.
3 p. Coarse Stockings for do. 2 pr "Women's Strong Shoes, size 8. 2 p'r Stockings for do. 50 ells Osnaburgs.
A suit of livery Cloathes for the above boy of 14. A hat for do. "XoTK. — Let the livery be suited to the arms of the Custis family."
" FOR Miss CUSTIS, 6 YEARS OLD.
" A coat made of fashionable Silk.
A fashionable Cap or Fillet with bib apron.
Ruffles and Tucker — to be laced.
4 fashionable dresses to be made of Long lawn.
2 fine Cambric frocks.
A Sattin Capuchin hat and neckatees.
A Persian quilted coat.
1 pr. pack thread Stays.
4 p. Calamanco Shoes, 6 pr leather ditto and
2 p'r Sattin do. with flat ties.
6 pr fine Cotton Stockings, 4 pr White Wors'd Do.
12 p'r Mitts. 6 p'r Gloves, white Kids.
1 p'r Silver Shoe buckles.
1 pr. neat sleeve buttons.
6 handsome Egrets* different sorts.
6 yds Ribbon Do.
* An Egrette or Aigrette was an ornament for the head then much used by people of fashion. They were sometimes made of tufts of feathers, diamonds, etc., but more frequently of ribbons. In the above invoice both kinds were ordered.
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 61
1 pr. little Scissors.
3 M (thousand) large pins. 3 M short whites.
3 M Minikens. . L Fashionable dressed Doll to cost a guinea. 1 Do. at 5*.
A box Gingerbread, Toys & Sugar Images and Comfits.
A neat Small Bible, bound in Turkey, and Martha Parke Custis wrote on the inside in gilt letters.
A Small Prayer Book, neat and in the same manner.
12 yards coarse green Callimanco.
The above things to be put into a Strong Trunk — separate from J. P. Custis's, whose will likewise be put into a Trunk, each having their names.
1 very good Spinet [a small harpsichord], to be made by Mr. Plinius, Harpsichord Maker, in South Audley Street, Grosvenor Square.
" It is begged as a favor that Mr. Carey would bespeak this instrument as for himself or a friend, and not let it be known y1 is intended for exportation.
"Send a good assortment of spare strings to it.
"Books according to the enclosed List — to be charged equally to both John Parke Custis and Martha Parke Custis — likewise one Ream of Writing paper."
These specimens of orders which were sent out annually to England, are given as glimpses of the domestic arrangements at Mount Vernon, and the style in which the wealthier Vir- ginia families, of cultivated tastes, lived before the Revolution. It is evident that Washington and his family indulged in all the fashionable luxuries (not extravagances) of the day, per- taining to the table and the wardrobe ; and in the absence of positive proof, these invoices would afford the strongest infer-
62 MOUNT VERNON
ential evidences that they spent much of their earlier years in the enjoyment of social pleasures.
Washington's Diaries bear still stronger, because positive testimony to the fact During some months, two or three times a week he records the result of a day's sport thus: " Went a hunting with Jacky Custis, and catched a fox, after three hours chase. Found it in the creek :" or, " Mr. Brvar Fairfax, Mr. Grayson and Phil. Alexander came home by sun- rise. Hunted and catched a fox with these, Lord Fairfax, his brother, and Colonel Fairfax — all of whom with Mr. Fairfax and Mr. Wilson of England, dined here." Afterward, two days in succession : " Hunted again with the same com- pany."
Still more frequently he noted the arrival and departure of guests. One day the Fairfaxes, or Masons, or Thurstons, or Lees would be there ; and the next day he and " Mrs. Wash- ington, Mr. and Miss Custis " would " dine at Belvoir." And so the round of visiting went on. Mount Yernon was seldom without a guest. The hunting day, which occurred so fre- quently, generally ended in a dinner there or at Belvoir, a little lower on the Potomac — more frequently at the former ; and* the hospitalities of the house were kept up in a style which none but a wealthy planter could afford. " Would any one believe," Washington says in his diary of 1768, "that with a hundred and one cows, actually reported at a late enumera- tion of the cattle, I should still be obliged to buy butter for my family 2-"
For Mrs. Washington and her lady visitors he kept a chariot and four horses, with black postillions in livery ; and these were frequently seen and admired upon the road between
ANI' ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 63
Mount Vernon and Alexandria, or the neighboring estates. He took great delight in horses. Those of his own stable were of the best blood, and their names, as well as those of his dogs, were registered in his household books. When abroad, he always appeared on horseback ; and as he was one of the most superb men and skilful horsemen in Virginia, he must have made an imposing appearance, especially when fully equipped for the road, with the following articles, which were ordered by him from London, in one of his annual invoices :
" 1 Man's Riding-Saddle, hogskin seat, large plated stirrups, and everything complete. Double-reined bridle and Pel- ham Bit, plated.
A very neat and fashionable Newmarket Saddle-Cloth.
A large and best Portmanteau, Saddle, Bridle and Pillion.
Cloak -Bag Surcingle ; checked Saddle-cloth, holsters, &c.
A Riding Frock of handsome drab-colored Broadcloth, with plain double-gilt Buttons.
A Riding Waistcoat of superfine scarlet cloth and gold Lace, with Buttons like those of the Coat.
A blue Surtout Coat.
A neat Switch Whip, silver cap.
Black Velvet Cap for Servant."
Thus attired, and accompanied by Bishop, his favorite body servaiit, in scarlet livery, Washington was frequently seen upon the road, except on Sunday morning, when he always rode in the chaise, with his family, to the church at Pohick or at Alexandria.
Like other gentlemen living near the Potomac, Washington was fond of aquatic sports. He kept a handsome barge, which,
64 MOUNT VERNON
on special occasions, was manned by black oarsmen in livery. Pleasant sailing-boats were frequently seen sweeping along the surface of the river, freighted with ladies and gentlemen going from mansion to mansion on its banks — Mount Vernon, Gun- ston Hall, Belvoir, and other places — on social visits.
Washington and his wife frequently visited Annapolis and Williamsburg, the respective capitals of Maryland and Vir- ginia. For fifteen consecutive years he was a member of the
\ Virginia House of Burgesses, and Mrs. Washington spent much
of her time with him at Williamsburg during the sessions. Both fond of amusements, they frequently attended the theat- rical representations there and at Annapolis, that entertainment being then a recent importation from England, the first com- pany of actors, under the direction of Lewis Hallam, having first performed in the Maryland capital in 1752. They also attended balls and parties given by the fashionable people of Williamsburg and Annapolis, and frequently joined in the dance. But after the Revolution Washington was never known to dance, his last performance being in a minuet, of which he was very fond, on the occasion of a ball given at Fredericksburg in honor of the French and American officers then there, on their way north, after the capture of Cornwallis, toward the close of 1781.
But it must not be supposed, that during these years of his earlier married life, Washington's time was wholly, or even chiefly, occupied in the pleasures of the chase and of social intercourse. Far from it. He was a man of great industry and method, and managed his large estates with signal indus- try and ability. He did not leave his farms to the entire care of his overseers. He -was very active, and continually, even
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 65
when absent on public business, exercised a general supervision of his affairs, requiring a carefully prepared report of all oper- ations to be transmitted to him weekly, for his inspection and suggestions.
He was very abstemious, and while his table always fur- nished his guests with ample and varied supplies for their appetites, he never indulged in the least excess, either in eating or drinking. He was an early riser, and might be found in his library from one to two hours before daylight in winter, and at dawn in summer. His toilet, plain and simple, was soon made. A single servant prepared his clothes, and laid them in a proper place at night for use in the morning. He also combed and tied his master's hair.
Washington always dressed and shaved himself. The im- plements he then used have been preserved, as interesting relics, in the family of Doctor Stuart, who, as we have ob- served, married the widow of John Parke Custis, the son of Mrs. Washington. Though neat in his dress and appearance, lie never wasted precious moments upon his toilet, for he always regarded time, not as a gift but as a loan, for which he must account to the great Master.
Washington kept his own accounts most carefully and me- thodically, in handwriting remarkable for its extreme neatness and uniformity of stroke. This was produced by the constant use of a gold pen. One of these, with a silver case, used by Washington during a part of the old war for independence, he presented to his warm personal friend, General Anthony Wal- ton White, of New Jersey, one of the most distinguished and patriotic of the cavalry officers of that war in the southern campaigns. It is now in the possession of Mrs. Eliza M. 5
-66 MOUNT VERNON
Evans, near Brunswick, Xew Jersey, the only surviving child of General White. In OTIC end of the silver pen-case is a sliding tube for a common black-lead pencil, the convenient "' ever-pointed" pencil being unknown in Washington's time. That was invented by Isaac Hawkins, and patented by him, in London, in 1802.
WASHINGTON'S GOLD PEN WITH SILVER CASE.
From his youth Washington kept a diary. For many years these records of his daily experience were made on the blank leaves of the Virginia Almanac, " Printed and sold by Purdie
KAC-SIMILK OF PAKB-HEADI.NO* IN WASHINGTON'S DIARY.
and Dixon, Williamsburg." They are headed respectively, as seen in the engraving, which is a fac-simile from one of his early diaries after his marriage. Under similar headings in these al- manacs, and in small blank pocket-books, this man of mighty labors kept such records, from day to day, for more than forty years ; and he frequently noted therein minute particulars con- cerning his agricultural operations, in the style of the sentence on the next page, which was copied from his diary for March, 1771.
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
Thus minutely journalizing his agricultural proceedings, keeping his own accounts, making all his own surveys, and, even before the Revolution, having an extensive correspond-
<y (7
FAC-SIMILE OF ENTRY IN WASHINGTON'S DIARY.
ence, Washington found much daily employment for his pen. The labors in his library, and a visit to his stables, usually occupied the hours before breakfast. After making a frugal meal of Indian cakes, honey, and tea or coffee, he would mount his horse and visit every part of his estate where the current operations seemed to require his presence, leaving his guests to enjoy themselves with books and papers, or otherwise, according to their, choice. He rode upon his farms entirely un- attended, opening the gates, pulling down and putting up the fences, and inspecting, with a careful eye, every agricultural operation, and personally directing the manner in which many should be performed. Sometimes the tour of his farms, in the course of the morning might average, in distance, twelve or fifteen miles ; and on these occasions his appearance was exceedingly plain. The late Mr. Custis, his adopted son, has left on record a description of him on one of these occasions, in
68 MOUNT VKRNON
the latter years of his life, which he gave to a gentleman who was out in search of Washington :
''You will meet, sir," said young Custis to the inquirer, " with an old gentleman riding alone, in plain drab clothes, a broad-brimmed white hat, a hickory switch in his hand, and carrying an umbrella with a long staff which is attached to his saddle-bow — that, person, sir, is General Washington."* The umbrella was used to shelter him from the sun, for his skin was tender and easily affected by its rays.
His breakfast hour was seven o'clock in summer and eight in winter, and he dined at three. He always ate heartily, but was no epicure. His usual beverage was small beer or cider, and Madeira wine. Of the latter he often drank several small "•lasses at a sitting. He took tea and toast, or a little well-
O ~
baked bread, early in the evening, conversed with or read to his family, when there were no guests, and usually, whether there was company or not, retired for the night at about nine o'clock.
So carefully did Washington manage his farms, that they became very productive. His chief crops were wheat and tobacco, and these were very large — so large that vessels that came up the Potomac, took the tobacco and flour directly from his own wharf, a little below his deer-park in front of his man- sion, and carried them to England or the West Indies. So noted were these products for their quality, and so faithfully were they put up, that any barrel of flour bearing the brand of " GEORGE WASHINGTON, MOUNT VERNON," was exempted from the customary inspection in the British West India ports.
* ''Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington, by liis Adopted Son," 168.
AXD ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
Upon the spot where that old wharf once stood, at the foot of a shaded ra- vine scooped from the high bank of the
Potomac, through which flows a clear stream from a spring, is a rickety modern structure, placed there for the accommodation of visitors to Mount Vernon, who are conveyed thither by a steamboat twice a week. There. may be seen the same ravine, the same broad river, the same pleasant shores of Maryland beyond ; but, instead of the barrels of flour, the quintals of lish, and the hogsheads of tobacco which appeared there in Washington's time, well-dressed men and women — true pil-
70 MOUNT VERNON
grims to a hallowed shrine, or mere idle gazers upon the burial place of a great man — throng that wharf as they arrive and depart on their errands of patriotism or of curiosity.
And nowr the dawn of great events, in which Washington was to be a conspicuous actor, glowed in the eastern sky. From the Atlantic seaboard, where marts of commerce had begun to spread their meshes (then small and feeble) for the world's traffic, came a sound of tumult ; and the red presages of a tempest appeared in that glowing orient. At first, that sound was like a low whisper upon the morning air, and, finally, it boomed like a thunder-peal over the hills and valleys of the interior, arousing the inhabitants to the defence of the immunities of freemen and the inalienable rights of man.
Time after time, for the space of a hundred years, the decree had gone forth from British councils, that the Anglo-American colonists should be the commercial as well as political vassals of the crown ; and chains of restrictions upon trade had been forged by an unwise and unrighteous policy, and fastened upon the lusty arms of the young giant of the West. And from time to time the giant, not all unconscious of his strength, yet docile because loyal, had spoken out mild remonstrances with deferential words. These had been heard with scorn, and answered by renewed offences.
An extravagant administration had exhausted the national exchequer, and the desperate spendthrift, too proud to borrow of itself by curtailing its expenditures, seemed to think nothing more honorable than a plea of bankruptcy, and sought to replenish its coffers by taking the money of the Americans without their consent, in the form of indirect taxation. This was in violation of the great republican postulate, that
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 71
TAXATION AND REPRESENTATION ARE INSEPARABLE.
And when the well-known stamp act was signed by the king, and its requirements and its penalties were proclaimed in America, the tempest of which we have spoken was aroused. It swept from the sea to the mountains, and from the moun- tains to the sea, until those who had sown the wind, were alarmed at the harvest they were reaping.
At Mount Vernon there was a spirit that looked calmly, but not unconcernedly, upon the storm, and, with prophetic vision, seemed to perceive upon the shadowy political sky the horo- scope of his own destiny. Washington was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, and had listened from his seat to the burning words of Patrick Henry, when he enunciated those living truths, for the maintenance of which the husband- man of Mount Vernon drew his sword a few years later. His soul was fired with the sense of oppression and the thoughts of freedom, yet his sober judgment and calculating prudence repressed demonstrative enthusiasm, and made him a firm, yet conservative patriot.
Among those who came to Mount Vernon at this time, and for years afterward, to consult with Washington respecting public affairs, was his neighbor and friend of Gunston Hall. George Mason. He was six years older than Washington, of large, sinewy frame, an active step and gait, locks of raven blackness, a dark complexion, and a grave countenance, which was lighted up by a black eye, whose glance was felt with power by those upon whom it chanced to fall. He was one of the most methodical of men, and most extensive of the Vir- ginia planters at that time ; and like Washington from Mount Vernon, shipped his crops from his own wharf, near his elegant
72 MOUNT VERNON
mansion of Gunston Hall. He was proud, yet extremely courteous; and while no man could be a warmer and more faithful friend than he, his hearing was such as to excite admi- ration rather than love. His strong mind was thoroughly cul- tivated, and he was conversant with the minute particulars of English general history, and especially with the political his- tory of the English empire. His mind was quick to perceive ; his judgment equally quick to analyze and arrange ; and these qualities made him a most skilful statesman. In council he was eminently wise ; in debate he was distinguished for extra- ordinary ability; and as a political writer, he was without a peer in his country, when the rising dispute with Great Britain was occupying the thoughts of men in both hemispheres. Such was the man with whom, at Mount Vernon and at Gunston Hall, "Washington held close conference for many years, while the flame of the Revolution was slowly kindling. The storm of the stamp act season passed by, but it was succeeded by many others. In the intervals Washington was engaged in agricultural pursuits at Mount Vernon, and the pleasures of social life. In all the public affairs of his neigh- borhood, he was an active participant ; and as early as 1765, the year when the stamp act became a law, he was a vestry- man of both Truro and Fairfax parishes, in which Pohick in the country, and Christ Church in Alexandria, were the re- spective places of worship. In that year his name is appended to a declaration, with others, that he would "be conformable to the Doctrines and Discipline of the Church of England, as by law established." With his name appear those of George Mason, George William Fairfax, Edward Payne, Captain Charles Broadwater, and more than twenty others.
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 73
During the earlier years of his married life, Washington attended Pohick church, seven miles from Mount Vernon. more frequently than any other. The first church of that name was a frame building, and stood on the south side of Pohick creek, about two miles from the present edifice. About the year 1764, it became so dilapidated as to be no longer fit for use. The parishioners were called together to con- sult upon the erection of a new one. Among those assembled was Washington, and the father of George Mason, then ad- vanced in years and greatly respected. When the question of the location of the new church came up for consideration, there was a difference of opinion. Mr. Mason was in favor of the old site, and Washington was opposed to it. Mr. Mason made a pathetic appeal in favor of the old site, pleading that there was the spot where their fathers had worshipped, and it was consecrated by their graves which surrounded it. Wash- ington and others took the ground that the spot was far less convenient for the parish than a more central one. The sub- ject took a shape that required more reflection, and a second meeting was called. Meanwhile, Washington made a careful survey of the whole neighborhood, marking the place of every house, and the relative distances, on a distinct map. When the second meeting was held, Mason ngain appealed to the sympathies of the people, when Washington appealed to their common sense, by simply presenting his map and explaining it in a few words. His almost mute argument prevailed, and the site of the present church was selected.
Preparations were now made for the erection of the new church, but it was not completed until the year 1773. Wash- ington drew the ground-plan and elevation of the building for
7-t
MOUNT V K II X O X
the use of the architect, ami these (the originals) are before me while I write. They are very neatly sketched with China ink, upon good drawing paper, and occupy a space thirteen by fifteen inches square. The engraving is from a carefully
!(
66 fy 4,5 a
GROUND PLAN AND ELEVATION OF POHICK CHURCH.
drawn copy on a small scale, but shows every line as seen in Washington's drawing.
Of the ministers who officiated at Pohick, there were none
AX D ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 75
more beloved than the Reverend Lee Massey. He was the companion of Washington from his jouth, and at his solicita- tion, and that of Mason, Fairfax, IVTCnTty, Chichester, and others of that parish, he was induced to relinquish the profes- sion of the law, study divinity, and become their pastor. His speech becoming impaired by the loss of his front teeth, he left the pulpit, and studied medicine as a means of affording relief to the poor.
Another clergyman, who officiated occasionally at Pohick church, after the regular stated services of the Church of Eng- land had ceased there, was the eccentric Mason L. Weems, the earliest biographer of Washington. The style of that biogra- phy was so attractive to the uncultivated readers of his day, that it passed through some forty editions, and even now if, tinds a sale. His character appeal's to have been a curious compound of seriousness and levity, truthfulness and exaggera- tion, reverence and profanity. He was an itinerant in every sense of the word. He was a man cf considerable attainments as a scholar, physician, and divine ; and his benevolence wras unbounded. When a boy of fourteen years, he was found at night teaching half-clad, half-fed children, who gathered eagerly around him ; and all through life he was ready to share a crust with the unfortunate. He used wit and humor freely on all occasions. " Whether in private or public, in prayers or preaching," says Bishop Meade, "it was impossible that either the young or old, the grave or the gay, could keep their risible faculties from violent agitation." He would pray with the negro servants at night, and fiddle for them by the road-side by day. For many years he was a travelling book- seller, preaching when invited, haranguing the people at
76 M 0 U N T V K R N7 O N
courts, fairs, and other public gatherings, and selling the Bible out of one hand and Paine's Age of Reason out of the other, alleging as an excuse for the latter performance, that he always carried the antidote with the poison. His fund of
MASON L. WtEMS.
anecdote was inexhaustible; and after giving a promiscuous audience the highest entertainment of fun, he found them .,i good mood to purchase his books. At Mount Vernon he was always a welcome guest, for Washington loved his goodness of heart and overlooked his foibles. Mr. Weems died at Beaufort, South Carolina, in May, 1825, at an advanced age.
After the Revolution, for reasons not clearly seen, Washing- ton attended Christ Church, at Alexandria (of wrhich he was a vestryman), instead of Pohick. Others of the latter parish fol- lowed, and after a while regular services ceased in that part of
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
77
the country. Washington owned a pew in Christ Church from the establishment of the parish, in 176rt, and occupied it con- stantly after 1783, until his death. Some of his name have held possession of it ever since. Judge Bushrod Washington
CHRIST CTTURCH, AI.KXANDRIA.
succeeded the General in its occupancy, then his nephew, John A. Washington, the father of the late proprietor of Mount Vernon, and lastly, that propriet or. himself. Christ Church, at Alexandria, was finished in 1773, and Washington paid the highest price for a pew in it.
I visited Pohick Church a few years ago, and found it falling rapidly into decay. It stands upon an eminence north of Pohick Creek, on the border of a forest that extends almost uninterruptedly to Mount Vernon. Around it are the ancient oaks of the primeval wood, interspersed with chestnuts and pines. It was just at twilight when I reached the old fane, and after making a sketch of it, I passed on to seek lodgings for the
78
MOUNT VERNON
night. The next day was the Sabbath, and being informed that a Methodist meeting was to be held in the church, I repaired thither at the usual hour, and took a seat in Washing- ton's pew, near the pulpit. There 1 awaited the slow gathering of the little auditory. When all had assembled, men and
POHICK CHURCH IN 1858.
women and children, white and black, the whole congre- gation numbered only twenty-one persons. I could not refrain from drawing a parallel with the scenes of other days under that venerated roof, when some of the noblest of Vir- ginia's aristocracy worship] >ed there, while clergymen, in sur- plice and gown, performed the solemn and impressive ritual of the Church of England. Now, a young man, with nothing to distinguish him from other men but a white cravat, stood as
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
teacher within the old chancel by the side of the ancient com- munion-table, lie talked sweetly of Christian charity :
" Oh, the rarity Of Christian charity."
and asked the little company to join with him in singing the
hymn —
"Come, Holy Spirit! Heavenly Dove!"
When the service was over, I made note, with pen and pencil, of all within. It was a melancholy task, for decay with its busy fingers was at work all around me, making sure prophe- cies of the speeedy desolation of a building hallowed by associ- ations with the beloved Washington. Upon the wall, back of the chancel, were still inscribed, the Law, the Creed, and the Lord} s Prayer, upon which the eyes of Washington and his friends had rested a thousand times. A large proportion of the panes of glass were broken from the windoAvs, admitting freely the wind and the rain, the bats and the birds. The elaborately wrought pulpit, placed by itself on one side of the church, was sadly marred by desecrating hands. Under its sounding-board, a swallow had built her nest ; and upon the book ledge the fowls of the air had evidently perched. These things brought to memory the words of the "sweet singer of Israel"- " Yea, the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altar, O Lord of Hosts !"
PULPIT I\ POniCJC CHURCH.
80 M 0 U N T V E It N 0 X
In the spring of 1772 there was a stranger at Mount Vernon, in errand and person. He was one-and-thirty years of age, slender in form, with a sweet and thoughtful face. He was a native of Maryland, and had been a saddler's apprentice at Annapolis, the capital of the province. In boyhood he had been as beautiful as a girl, and at twenty he was a handsome young man. At that age he felt spiritual aspirations for the life of an artist ; and when, two or three years later, he said to a retired painter who resided a few miles from Annapolis, " Show me, Mr. Hesselins, how you mix such beautiful tints for your canvas, and I will give you, the best saddle that I can make," a new world was opening to his enraptured vision. At that moment his true artist life began, for the generous painter revealed to him the coveted secret. Then the occupa- tions of watchmaker, silversmith, carver, and saddler, in which he had severally engaged, were abandoned for the pursuit of art, except when stern necessity compelled him to employ them in earning his daily food. Thus he worked on until a way was opened for him to go to England and place himself under the instruction of Benjamin West, the great American painter, then the loved companion of the king. Two years he remained with West, and in 1769, Charles Willson Peale, the young artist referred to, returned to his native country and set up his easel as a portrait painter at Annapolis and Baltimore with wonderful success.
The fame of the young painter soon reached Mount Vernon, and he was invited there to delineate, for the first time, the form and features of the noble " lord of the manor." lie executed the commission admirably, and produced a fine portrait of Washington at the age of forty years, life size, a
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81
little more than half-length, and in the costume of a colonel of the twenty-second regiment of the Virginia Militia. The coat is blue, with red facings, and bright metal buttons, having the
CHAKLKS WIIiLSON PEALE.
number of the regiment ("22") cast upon them. The waist- coat and breeches are also red, and the sash, a faded purple.
"When, in 1797 or '98, Field, an English miniature painter and engraver of some eminence, visited Mount Yernon, he slept in a room in which hung Washington's old military coat. The painter cut off one of the buttons, and brought it away with him, regarding the transaction as a pious theft, no doubt, be- cause prompted by veneration for the owner. That button is now in the possession of John F. Watson, Esq..
6
WASHINGTON S MILITARY BUTTON'.
MOUNT VKRXON
the venerable annalist of Philadelphia and New York, and at his house in Germantown the r.nnexod sketch of it was made.
WASHINGTON AS A VIRGINIA COLONEL AT THE AGE OF FORTY.
Field had a pleasant countenance and fine portly figure. He was, on the whole, rather fat, and loved his ease. "When at Centreville, on the eastern shore of Maryland, in 1798," says Rembrandt Peale, in a recent letter to a friend, " Field and I took a walk into the country, after a rain. A wide puddle of water covered the road beyond the fence on both sides. I climbed the fence and walked round, but Field, fat and lazy, in good humor paid an old negro to carry him on his shoulders over the water. In the middle of it, Field became so convuls- ed with laughter, that lie nearly shook himself off the old man's back."
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83
Field went to Canada, studied theology a little, was ordain- ed a priest of the Estab- lished Church, and be- came a bishop.
The portrait painted by young Peale, at that time, was the first that was ever made of Washing- ton. From the study he then made, lie painted the fine picture which hung at Mount Vernon until the owner's death, and since that time has graced the walls of Arlington House, the home of the late George Washington Parke Custis. The study — the really first portrait, was afterward dressed in the continental costume. This remained in posses- sion of the artist and his family until the Peale gallery, in Philadelphia, was sold a few years ago, when it was purchased by Charles S. Ogden, Esq., in whose possession it now
rests.
FAC-SIMILE OF PKALE S RECEIPT
84 MOUNT TBBNON
While at Mount Yernon at that time, Peale painted a min- iature of Mrs. Washington, for her son, John Parke Custis, then a youth of eighteen, for which Washington, as his guardian, paid ten guineas, according to a receipt in the hand-writing of Washington, and signed by the artist, yet preserved in the family.
JOHN" PARKE CUSTIS.
Peale's miniatures were exquisitely painted, and very much sought after. A few years later he painted a portrait, in miniature, of young Custis, who wras then General Washing- ton's aide ; also of his wife, the second daughter of Benedict Calvert, of Maryland, a descendant of Lord Baltimore. He also painted a portrait of that lady, life size, before her mar- riage, in which she is represented as a beautiful young girl in equestrian costume, the riding-jacket being open in front, and
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 85
on her head a riding-hat with a feather. The miniature of John Parke Custis, from which our engraving was copied, was in the possession of Mrs. Washington until her death, and is now the property of his granddaughter, the wife of Colonel Robert E. Lee, of Arlington House, Virginia.*
A shadow fell upon Mount Yernon in the spring of 1773. No child had blessed the union of "Washington and his wife, and her two children received the most tender parental care and solicitude from their step-father. He appeared to love them as his own. Martha was a sweet girl, of gentle temper, graceful form, winning ways, and so much a brunette, that she was called " the dark lady." Just as she was blooming into womanhood, pulmonary consumption laid its withering hand upon her. For several months her strength had been failing, and letters filled with expressions of anxiety went frequently from her mother to Washington, who was engaged in his duties in the House of Burgesses at Williamsburg. At length a most alarming letter reached him. He had just made arrangements to accompany Lord Dunmore, the governor, on a long tour of observation west of the mountains, but he hastened to Mount Vernon. He found the dear child in the last moments of earthly life. His manly spirit was bowed with grief, and with deep feeling he knelt at the side of her bed and prayed most earnestly for her recovery. Upon the wings of that holy prayer her spirit ascended, and when he arose and looked upon her pale and placid face, Death had set its seal there. She expired on the nineteenth of June,
* Mr. Peale painted many other portraits of Washington, life size and in minia- ture. For an account of these, see note to the chapter on Washington's Portraits, in Custis's Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington.
86 MOUNT VKRNON
when in the seventeentli year of her age. Her departure left a great void in the heart of the mother, and Washington remained for some time at Mount Yernon, in seclusion, to con- sole his afflicted wife, instead of taking the contemplated journey with the governor.
And now the flames of the Revolution were rapidly kind- ling all over the land. The representatives of royal authority had been buffeted in Boston, and acts of parliament had been set at naught, in such manner, that an indignant decree went forth from the throne, that the port of the New England capital should be shut, and the entire machinery of the colonial gov- ernment be clogged, until the people there should show prac- tical signs of penitence for their political sins. The people defied the ministerial power, and laughed at ministerial anathemas. Then a new governor, with armed soldiers, took possession of Boston, and, with iron heel, crushed its commerce and its prosperity.
Hot was the indignation of the colonists over the length and breadth of the land, and to every stroke of resistance given by the people of Massachusetts, those of Virginia abetted and gave loud acclamations of applause. For ten long years the people, in separate communities, had petitioned and remon- strated in vain. Now there was a universal desire for unity of action, and a GENERAL CONGRESS was proposed, in accordance with a suggestion made by Doctor Franklin. It received a hearty response in every colony, and the 5th of September, 1774, was the time agreed upon for such congress to assemble, and Philadelphia the place.
For a long time Washington had been much engaged in the discussion of the momentous political questions of the day. He
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 87
was firm in his opinion, but no enthusiast; and with cautious but unwavering step, lie had walked in the path of opposition to ministerial measures. He heartily approved of a General Congress; and when, after the Virginia Assembly, of which he was a member, had been dissolved by the governor, and met in informal convention, to consult upon the expedient of holding another council to elect representatives to a general congress, he was warmly in favor of the measure. And when that congress met, he was among the delegates chosen for the important business of conferring, in solemn earnestness, upon the destinies of a nation.
Washington was now fairly embarked upon the stormy ocean of political life in troublous times — u times," as Paine afterward said, •' that tried men's souls." Yast were the stakes that he pledged. Life, fortune, honor, and every social enjoy- ment were all imperilled ; and while his friend and neighbor of Gunston Hall as warmly espoused the same cause, those of Belvoir adhered to the crown.
The sports of the chase, social visiting, and almost everj amusement of life now ceased at Mount Vernon. Grave men assembled there, and questions of mighty import were con- sidered thoughtfully and ] rayerfully, for Washington was u man of prayer from earliest manhood.
At length the time arrived for the assembling of the national congress, and from all the colonies, except Georgia, the dele- gates began to make their way toward Philadelphia, some on horseback, others in coaches or chaises, but none by public conveyances, for there were few of these even in the most pop- ulous provinces. Some travelled alone, others in pairs ; and as they approached the Delaware or the Schuylkill, they found
88 M 0 U N T V K R N 0 X
themselves in companies. What a glorious spectacle ! From twelve strong viceroyalties, containing an aggregate population of almost three millions of people, the best and the wisest among them, obedient to the public will, were on their way, through vast forests, and over rugged mountains, across broad rivers, and broader morasses, and through richly cultivated districts, cheerful villages, and expanding cities, to a common goal, there to meet, deliberate, and confederate, for the welfare, not only of a continent, but of the world ! It was a moral spectacle such as had been hitherto unrecorded by the pen of history.
On Wednesday morning, the 31st of August, 1771, two men approached Mount Vernon on horseback. One of them was a slender man, very plainly dressed in a suit of ministers' gray, and about forty years of age. The other was his senior in years, likewise of slender form, and a face remarkable for its expression of unclouded intelligence. He was more carefully dressed, more polished in manners, and much more fluent in conversation than his companion. They reached Mount Ver- non at seven o'clock, and after an exchange of salutations with Washington and his family, and partaking of breakfast, the three retired to the library and were soon deeply absorbed in the discussion of the great questions then agitating the people of the colonies. The two travellers were Patrick Henry and Edmund Pendleton. A third, the silver-tongued Cicero of Virginia, Richard Henry Lee, was expected with them, but he had been detained at Chantilly, his seat in Westmoreland.
All day long these three eminent Virginians were in council ; and early the next morning they set out on horseback for Phila- delphia, to meet the patriots from other colonies there. Will Lee, Washington's huntsman, and favorite body servant, now that
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80
PATRICK I1EXRV.
Bishop had become too old and infirm to be active, was the only attendant upon his master. They crossed the Potomac at the Falls (now Georgetown), and rode far on toward Balti- more, before the twilight. On the -ith of September, the day before the opening of the Congress, they breakfasted at Chris- tiana Ferry (now "Wilmington), and dined at Chester ; and that night Washington, according to his diary, " lodged at Doctor Shippen's, in Philadelphia, after supping at the New Tavern. 'v At that house of public entertainment he had lodged nearly two years before, while on his way to New York to place young Custis in King's (now Columbia) College.
At ten o'clock on Monday morning, the 5th of September, 1774, the First Continental Congress commenced its sessions
MOUNT VERNON
in Carpenter's Hall, in Philadelphia. The members first assembled at the City Tavern, and marched in procession to the Hall. They organized the congress by choosing Peyton Ran- dolph— a large, fleshy, good-looking Virginian, five-and-forty years of age — as president ; and for secretary they appointed Charles Thomson, a lean man, with hollow, sparkling eyes, hair quite thin and gray, and a year younger than the president, though bearing marks of premature old age. Thomson was an accomplished Pennsylvanian ; and, notwithstanding he ap- peared so old at the age of forty -four, he lived fifty years longer, while the florid, healthful-looking Randolph died the very next year, within an hour after eating a hearty dinner at Richard Hill's country seat, near Philadelphia.
The business of the congress was opened by Patrick Henry, and the session continued until the 26th of October, when they had laid the foundations of a new Republic, deep in the principles of Truth and Justice. They debated great questions with the dignity and wisdom of sages, and, by a large majority adopted the following resolution — a resolution which reaffirmed all pre- vious resolves of the Americans to fight for freedom rather than submit to inglorious political servitude :
" Resolved, — THAT THIS CONGRESS APPROVE THE OPPOSITION OF
THE INHABITANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY TO THE EXECUTION OF
THE LATE ACTS OF PARLIAMENT ; AND IF THE SAME SHALL BE AT- TEMPTED TO BE CARRIED INTO EXECUTION BY FORCE, IN SUCH CASE, ALL AMERICA OUGHT TO SUPPORT THEM IN THEIR OPPOSITION.
The Congress closed their important labors by putting forth some of the most remarkable state papers that ever appeared
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 91
ill the annals of the nations. The perusal of them drew from the Earl of Chatham the most enthusiastic encomiums, in a speech in the House of Lords. u When your lordships," he said, " look at the papers transmitted to us from America ; when you consider their decency, firmness, and wisdom, you cannot but respect their cause, and wish to make it your own. For my- self, I must declare and avow, that in all my reading and study of history (and it has been my favorite study — I have read Thucydides, and have studied and admired the master states of the world), that for solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusions, under such a complication of cir- cumstances, no nation or body of men can stand in preference to the Congress at Philadelphia."
It was in a congress composed of such men that Washington distinguished himself. Although he did not engage in the public debates (for he had no talent for extempore speaking), and his name does not appear in the published proceedings of the Congress as a member of any committee during the session, liis diary shows that he was assiduous in his attendance at Carpenter's Hall ; and there is ample evidence that his mind had much to do in the general conduct of the business, and especially in the preparation of the state papers alluded to. When Patrick Henry was asked, on his return from Phila- delphia, whom he considered the greatest man in the congress, lie replied : u If you speak of eloquence, Mr. Rutledge of South Carolina is by far the greatest orator; but if you speak of solid information and sound judgment, Colonel Washington is unquestionably the greatest man on that floor."
When the Congress adjourned, Washington returned to Mount Vernon, full of desires for a reconciliation with the
92 MOUNT VERN ON
parent government, and for peacefnlness in the bosom of his family ; yet without any well-grounded hope. The hand of inexorable circumstances was then making many and great changes in and around his beautiful home. The sunshine upon the fields, the forests and the river were as bright as ever; and the flowers bloomed as beautifully, and the birds sang as sweetly as ever, when another spring came, like the angel of the resurrection, to call forth the sleepers in the bosom of mother earth. But in the mansion death had left the memorial footsteps of its recent visit ; and the discord of clashing opin- ions had almost hushed into silence the sweet voices of the social circle in which he had been accustomed to move. His friend of Belvoir was a loyalist and beyond the ocean ; and that fine mansion, wherein the Washingtons and Fairfaxes had held generous intercommunication for a quarter of a century, was soon afterward consumed by fire. Its owner never re- turned to America, and the social intercourse of two long-tried friends was closed forever. George Washington and George William Fairfax never met again on the earth.
The Congress of 1774, doubtful concerning reconciliation with Great Britain upon terms to which the colonists could accede, adjourned, to meet again at the same place on the tenth of May following, unless the desired redress of grievances should speedily take place, and render another national coun- cil unnecessary. But the people, taught by long and bitter experience, expected no justice from a blinded ministry, and prepared for inevitable war. They aroused themselves, and organized into military companies for the purpose of discipline.
Suddenly, as if by magic, a vast army was formed. It was, as we have elsewhere observed, "strong, determined, generous.
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 93
and panting for action, yet invisible to the superficial observer. It was not seen in the camp, the field, nor the garrison. No drum was heard calling it to action ; no trumpet was sounded for battle. It was like electricity, harmless when latent, but terrible when aroused. It was all over the land. It was at the plough, in the workshop, and in the counting-room. Almost every household was its head-quarters, and every roof its tent. It bivouacked in every chamber ; and mothers, wives, sisters, and sweethearts made cartridges for its muskets, and supplied its commissariat. It was the old story of Cadmus repeated in modern history. British oppression had sown dragon's teeth all over the land, and a crop of armed men were ready to spring up, but not to destroy each other." *
Washington, always covetous of rural pursuits and the quiet of domestic life, returned from Philadelphia with the intention of resuming them. But urgent calls to public duty drew him from them. The volunteer companies of his state sought his counsel, and offered him the general leadership ; and he went from place to place, reviewing the assembled troops, and imparting wisdom wrhich he had learned from his military experience. Meanwhile, his old companions in arms came frequently to Mount Yernon, for they snuffed the smoke of war from afar. Among these, Doctors Hugh Mercer, of Fred- ricksburgh, and James Craik, of Alexandria, were the most welcome, for these Washington loved much.
Other men more distinguished also made frequent visits to Mount Vernon. Among the most famous of these were Gen- eral Charles Lee and Major Horatio Gates, both of whom had
* Lossing's Life of Washington, i. 470.
MOUNT VKRNON
been officers of distinction in the British army, and were tnen residents in Virginia. These frequently accompanied Wash- ington in his military excursions ; and during the spring of 1775, they spent much time under his roof.
UKNKBAL CHARLES LKE.
Lee was a Welshman, and a year younger than Washington. He possessed fine manly physical proportions, and a fiery spirit which nothing, at times, could control. He had been engaged in the war with the French and Indians in America, in 1756 and a few succeeding years; and the Mohawks, who created him a chief among themselves, gave him the signifi- cant name of Soiling Water. Restless and ambitious, he engaged in the continental wars of Europe, wherever he could find employment. At one time we find him an aide to the
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 95
king of Poland, and then a companion of that king's ambas- sador to Constantinople. Then we see him in England assail- ing the British ministry with his sarcastic pen, and by his ill nature arid perverse judgment, shutting every door to his own advancement. Disappointed and still restless, he came to America in 1773, and travelled through most of the English provinces. In Virginia he met Major Gates, and was induced by that gentleman to purchase an estate near him, in Berkeley county. There he was residing when the war for independence was fairly kindling, and he espoused the cause of the patriots with a zeal that commanded their greatest admiration. He entered the army as the first major-general under Washington, became very popular with the great body of the people, and for awhile disputed a place in their attachment with Washing- ton himself. His ambition soon conquered his prudence, and he became insolent and insubordinate toward his superiors. With apparent collusion with the enemy, he became a prisoner; endeavored, while a captive, to betray his adopted country ; was restored to the army by exchange, but soon afterward was suspended from command because of bad conduct on the field of Monmouth ; and died in Philadelphia in comparative poverty, in the autumn of 1782, at the age of fifty-one years. He was a brilliant man in many things, but his life exhibited few commendable traits of character. He was bad in morals and manners; profane and extravagant in language, and feared and loved neither God nor man. In his will he bequeathed his soul to the Almighty and his body to the earth, saying: " I desire most earnestly that I may not be buried in any church or churchyard, or within a mile of any Presbyterian or Anabaptist meeting-house; for, since I have resided in this
DC MOUNT YERNOX
country, I have kept so much bad company when living, that I do not choose to continue it when dead.'1
Major Gates was three years the senior of Washington, and is supposed to have been a natural son of Horace Walpole. He was an officer in the British army during the French and Indian war, and was with Braddock in the battle of the Monongahela, where he was severely wounded, lie accom-
GSXERAL HOHATIO GATES.
panied General Mockton to the West Indies as his aide-de- camp, and expected great preferment after the campaign was over, as he was the bearer to the king of the tidings of the English victory at Martinico. He was disappointed, and, in 1772, he sold his commission of major, came to America, and purchased an estate in Berkeley county, Virginia, beyond the Blue Ridge.
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Gates was the opposite of Lee in his social qualities, being a perfect gentleman in his deportment. He, also, espoused the republican cause at the kindling of the war, was appointed the first adjutant-general of the continental army, and arose to the rank of major-general. He was ambitious and vain ; and, during the first half of the war, was seeking to take the place of Washington as supreme commander of the American armies.
His last active military command was in South Carolina, in the summer of 1780, where he lost his whole army. He returned to his estate in Virginia, where he lived until 1790, and then removed to a farm on Manhattan Island, near the city of New York. He was a member of the New York legislature one term, and died in the spring of 1806, at the age of seventy-eight years.
Washington was at Mount Vernon only a few weeks at a time, from the summer of 1774 until his retirement from the army in 1783. He was in the first continental Congress, as we have observed, during the autumn of 1774; was absent upon military services much of the time during the winter of 1775, and was a member of the Virginia Assembly in the spring, when Patrick Henry made his famous war speech, which was closed with the burning words : " What is it that gentlemen wish ? What would they have ? Is life so dear or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God ! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH !"
With these words of Henry ringing in his ears, Washington returned to Mount Vernon. and prepared for a journey to Philadelphia, there to take his seat as a member of the Second
98 M 0 U N T V K R N 0 N
Continental Congress. Just at the close of a mild April day, while he and his neighbor, Bryan Fairfax, with Major Gates, were discussing the stirring events at Williamsburg, connected with the seizure of powder belonging to the colony, by the royal governor, and the bold stand taken by Patrick Henry- events which were then arousing every republican heart in Virginia to action — a messenger came in haste from Alex- andria, bearing intelligence of bloodshed at Lexington and Concord. That intelligence made a deep but widely different impression upon the minds of the three friends. The gentle Fairfax, even then inclined to enter the gospel ministry, which he afterward adorned, was drawn, by the ties of consanguinity and ancestral reverence, to the side of the parent country. He was much distressed by the tidings from the east, for he per- ceived the gathering of a cloud of miseries for his country, and the peril of all pleasant social relations.
Gates, ambitious of military glory, and eagerly looking for the honors and emoluments of office, for which lie had long played the sycophant in London, wras delighted by this opening of an avenue to a field of action wherein they might be won ; while Washington, communing with the intuitions of his loftier spirit, became thoughtful and reserved, and talked little, but wisely, on the subject. But he resolved nobly and firmly to go zealously into whatever conflicts might arise for the defence of the liberties of his country. All regarded the event as the casting away of the scabbard, as the severing blow to colonial allegiance.
These friends parted company on the following day, and to- ward the evening of the 4th of May, Benjamin Harrison, one of the immortal fiftv-six who afterward signed the Declaration
ANI- ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 99
of Independence, came to Mount Vernon, supped, lodged, and breakfasted, and departed with AVashington, early in the morn- ing of the 5th, for Philadelphia. They arrived at Chester on the 9th, and, while riding toward Philadelphia, with other southern delegates, were met, five or six miles from the city, by a cavalcade of five hundred gentlemen. Nearer the city, they were met by military companies, and by these, with bands of music, were escorted into and through the city " with great parade." On the following day, the new England delegates were received in a similar manner ; and thus, in the midst of the homage and acclamations of the people, the representatives of thirteen viceroyalties assembled to confederate in the great work of constructing a new republic.
With the sword of defence in one hand, and the olive-branch of reconciliation in the other, the Congress went on in their solemn labors. The military genius and experience of Wash- ington were continually acknowledged by his being placed as chairman of all the committees appointed for the conduct of military affairs ; and to him was entrusted the important task of preparing rules and regulations for an army, and devising measures for the general defence.
Meanwhile, a large, but crude and ill-regulated army, had gathered around Boston, and was keeping the British regulars in close confinement upon that little peninsula. It possessed no other cohesion than that derived from a sense of mutual danger. The Congress perceived this, and resolved to con- solidate and organize it by adopting it as a Continental army, with a commander-in-chief and assistant general officers. That adoption was formally made ; and on Thursday, the 15th of June, two days before the battle of Bunker's Hill, George
100 MOUNT VERNON
Washington was chosen commander-in-chief of " all the con- tinental forces raised or to be raised, for the defence of Amer- ican liberty." The appointment was officially anncwnced to him on the following day, and modestly accepted ; and on the 18th he wrote a touching letter to his wife on the subject, tell- ing her he must depart immediately for the camp ; begging her to summon all her fortitude, and to pass her time as agree- ably as possible ; and expressing a firm reliance upon thai Providence which had ever been bountiful to him, not doubt- ing that he should return safe to her in the fall.
But he did not so return. Darker and darker grew the clouds of war; and, during more than seven years, Washington visited his pleasant home upon the Potomac but once, and then only for three days and nights. Mrs. Washington spent the winter in camp with her husband ; and many are the traditions concerning he" beauty, gentleness, simplicity, and industry, which yet linger around the winter-quarters of the venerated commander-in-chief of the armies of the Revolution. For many long years she was remembered with affection by the dwellers at Cambridge, Morristown, Valley Forge, Newburgh, and New Windsor. When, on each returning spring, she departed for her home on the Potomac, the blessings of thou- sands— soldiers and citizens — went with her, for she was truly loved by all.
. Pleasant would it be to read the scores of letters written by Washington to his charming wife during all that campaigning period, and his subsequent services in civil life. That pleasure can never be enjoyed. Only one letter to her — the message informing her of his appointment to the command of the army - —is known to be in existence, and that, with one to her son on
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 101
the same subject, written on the following day, is carefully preserved at Arlington House, by her great-granddaughter, Mrs. Mary Custis Lee. Mrs. Washington destroyed all of her husband's other letters to herself, a short time before her death.
It is not our design to follow Washington in his career as a soldier, or even as a statesman, for in these his field of action was far away from Mount Vernon — the object of our illustra- tions. His career in each was noble ; and even in his defeats in battle, he never lost a particle of the dignity of his char- acter, nor the esteem of his countrymen. His caution and prudence were sometimes misunderstood, but they were always found to be the guaranties of success. For nearly nine months he cautiously watched the British army in Boston, and waited for strength sufficient to attack it writh success, while the people, and even the Congress, became impatient and clamored for battle. At length the proper time came, and with skill and energy he prepared to strike an annihilating blow. The enemy saw their peril, fled to their ships, and escaped to Halifax, while the whole continent rang with the praises of Washington. The Congress d-ecreed a gold medal to the victor. Duvivier, of Paris, cut the die ; and to Mount Vernon the glittering testimonial of a nation's gratitude was afterward borne, upon which was inscribed : " THE AMERICAN CONGRESS TO GEORGE WASHINGTON, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF ITS ARMIES, THE ASSERTORS OF FREEDOM : TlIE ENEMY FOR THE FIRST TIMK PUT TO FLIGHT BOSTON RECOVERED, ITlTI MARCH, 1776."
Although excessively prudent, Washington was ever ready to strike a blow in the presence of greatest peril, when his judgment and inclination coalesced in recommending, the per-
102
MOUNT VEKNON
GOLD MEDAL AWARDED TO WASHINGTON FOR THE DELIVERANCE OF BOSTON.
formance of the act. We see him with a handful of ill-dis- ciplined, ill-fed, ill-clad soldiers, after a prudent flight of three weeks before a strong pursuing enemy, crossing a rapid river in the midst of floating ice, and darkness, and driving storm, and smiting a band of mercenary Germans at Trenton, who had been hired out by their avaricious princes to aid the British soldiery in butchering their fellow subjects. Victory followed the blow, and a few days afterward that victory was repeated at Princeton. Again thp praises of Washington were upon every lip. The great Frederick of Prussia declared that the achievements of the American leader and his compatriots, between- the twenty-fifth of December 1776, and the fourth of January, 1777 — a space of ten days — were the most brilliant of any recorded in the annals of military action. A splendid flag, taken from the Hessians at Trenton, composed of two pieces of heavy white damask silk, bearing devices embroid- ered witli gold thread, and the words FOE OUR PRINCE AND COUNTRY, in Latin, exquisitely wrought in needlework, was
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103
presented to "Washington. It was afterward hung up in the great hall at Mount Vernon, but only on one occasion, for Washington was careful never to make even the most trivial display of me- mentos of his own valor. This flag was his first trophy of the kind in the war for independence.
And all through the war, prudence, sagacity, skill, energy, and great wisdom, marked the acts of Wash- ington. His last battle was at Yorktown, where another trophy, similar to that at Trenton, was se- cured. It was the flag of the seventh British regiment, made of heavy twilled silk, six feet in length and five feet four inches in width. The ground was blue; the cen- tral stripe of the cross red; the marginal ones white. In the centre was a crown, and beneath it a garter, with the usual inscription in Norman French — Evil be to him who evil thinketh — enclosing a full-blown rose, the floral emblem of England. This flag, with another, was presented to Washing- ton by a resolution of the Congress, passed ten days after the victory, and was hung in the hall at Mount Vernon on the single occasion referred to. It had been sadly tattered during
DESSIAN FLAU TAKEN AT TBENTON.
104
M O IT N T V K II N O N
the conflict. Until lately it occupied a place near the Hessian flag, in the Museum at Alexandria, where they were de- posited by the late George Washington Parke Custis, and
BRITISH FLAG TAKKN A I' VOKKTOWX.
appropriately labeled Alpha and Omega — the first and the last of the trophies won by Washington.
Lonely was the mansion at Mount Vernon without the master during the seven years and more that the war lasted. Yet it was by no means deserted. T^he only child of Mrs. Washington. John Parke Custis, with his
wife and growing family, were there much of the time, for Washington had written to him a few days after his appoint- ment to the command of the army : "At any time, I hope it is unnecessary for me to say, that I am always pleased with your and Nelly's abidance at Mount Vernon, much less upon this occasion, when I think it absolutely necessary for the peace and satisfaction of your mother ; a consideration which I have no doubt will have due weight with you both, and require no arguments to enforce." Neighbors and friends also came frequently to cheer the temporary widowhood of the mistress. Lund Washington, the master's relative and friend, was the faithful manager of the estate, and he scrupulously obeyed the injunction of the owner, who said : " Let the hospitality of the
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 105
house, with respect to the poor, be kept up. Let no one go away hungry. If any of this kind of people should be in want of corn, supply their necessities, provided it does not encourage them in idleness."
Nothing of Importance, aside from the routine of plantation life, occurred at Mount Vernon after the summer of 1775, until 1781. At the former period, Lord Dunmore and his marauding followers, ascended the Potomac as far as Oceo- quan Falls, with the intention of making Mrs. Washington a prisoner, and desolating the estates of Gunston Hall and Mount Vernon. The Prince William militia gathered in larg^ numbers to oppose him, and these, aided by a heavy storm, frustrated his lordship's designs, and he sailed down the river, after destroying some mills and other property.
Early in September, 1781, there was great commotion at Mount Vernon, greater than when, a few months before, small British armed vessels had come up the Potomac, plundering and destroying on every hand. One of these, on that occasion, had approached Mount Vernon with fire and sword, and Lund Washington had purchased the safety of the estate by giving the commander refreshments and supplies. For this the mas- ter of Mount Vernon rebuked him, saying, "It would have been a less painful circumstance to me to have heard that, in consequence of your non-compliance with their request, they had burned my house and laid my plantation in ruins."
On the 9th of September, 1781, there was an arrival more startling to the dwellers upon the Mount Vernon estate than that of an armed enemy upon the neighboring waters. It was the unexpected arrival of the master himself. The allied French and American armies were then on their march toward
106 MOUNT VERNON
Virginia, to assist Lafayette and his compatriots in driving the invading Cornwallis from that state. Washington came from Baltimore late at night, attended only by Colonel Humphreys (one of his aides) and faithful Billy. They Lad left the Count de Rochambeau and the Marquis de Chastellux — one at Alex- andria, and the other at Georgetown — to follow them in the morning. Yery soon the whole household was astir, and the news flew quickly over the estate that the master had arrived. At early dawn the servants came from every cabin to greet him, and many looked sorrowfully upon a face so changed by the storms of successive campaigns, during more than six years that he had been absent.
None came earlier than Bishop, the venerable body-servant of the master in the old French war, who was now too old to go to the camp. He lived near the mansion, the Nestor of the plantations, and was overseer of one of the farms. No doubt he came, as was his custom on great occasions, fully equipped in his regimentals, made after the fashion of George the Second's time, to greet the man he so much loved. Bishop was then almost eighty years of age, with deep furrows upon his cheeks, a few gray locks upon his temples, and his once manly form bent gently by the weight of years, and shrunken by the suns of nearly fourscore summers.
On the morrow, the French noblemen, with their suites, ar- rived— Rochambeau first, and De Chastellux afterward — and all but the chief made it a day of rest. For him there was no repose. He was not permitted to pass even an hour alone with his wife. Public and private cares were pressing heavily upon him. He was on his way to measure strength with a powerful enemy, and his words of affection were tew and hurried. All
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
107
COL'M' I>K HOCUAMBKAII.
the morning of the 10th he was closeted with his manager, and before dinner he wrote to Lafayette the first letter that he had dated at Mount Vernon sinee early in May, 1775, saying, '* Wo are thus far on our way to you. The Count de Rochambeau has just arrived. General Chastellux will be here, and we pro- pose, after resting to-morrow, to be at Fredericksburg on the night of the 12th. The 13th we shall reaeh Xew Castle ; and, the next day, we expect to have the pleasure of seeing you at your encampment." These calculations were correct ; they arrived at the camp of Lafayette, at Williamsburg, on the evening of the 14th.
Rochambeau and Chastellux were guests worthy of such a host. The former was of a noble Vendome family. He was
108 MOUNT VERNON
of medium height, slender in form, and then fifty-six years of age. He had been aide-de-camp to the Duke of Orleans, five- and-thirty years be/ore, and had gained many laurels on the fields of battle, especially on that of Minden, which occurred a few months after Washington had taken his bride to Mount Yernon. A fine picture of that battle hung upon the walls at Mount Vernbn for many years, and is now at Arlington House. Whether it was there to delight the eyes of Rochambeau on this occasion is a question that may not now be solved.
Rochambeau had come to America at the head of a large army, to assist, the struggling colonists to cast off the British yoke. He came with the title of lieutenant-general, but, according to previous arrangement by the French court, he was to be second to Washington in command. He assisted nobly at the siege of Yorktown, where, little more than a month after this visit at Mount Vernon, Cornwallis and a large army surrendered to the allied forces. He returned to France, was made a field-marshal by the king, but wras called to much suffering during the French Revolution. Bonaparte granted him a pension and the cross of grand officer of the legion of honor, in 1803. Four years afterward he died at the age of eighty-two.
De Cliastellux was a much younger man than Rochambeau, heavier in person, very vivacious, fond of company, and exhib- ited all the elegances of manner of the older French nobility, to which class he belonged. He came to America with Roch- ambeau, but seems not to have been confined to the army, though bearing the title of major-general ; for during the two years he was here, he travelled very extensively, and made notes and observations. These he printed on board the French
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
109
fleet — only twenty-four copies — for distribution among liia friends ; but a few years afterward they were translated and published in two volumes, by an English traveller.
MAKCjriS UK ClIASTKLI.lrX.
De Chastellux was the life of every company into which he was introduced, while in this country, and he left a very pleasant impression at Mount Vernon. In the library there, where he was entertained in the autumn of 1781, Washington wrote to him a playful letter in the spring of 1787, after receiving from the marquis an account of his marriage to an accomplished lady, a relative of the Duke of Orleans. " I saw," wrote Washington, "by the eulogium you often made
110 MOUNT VERNON
on the happiness of domestic life in America, that you had swallowed the bait, and that you would as surely be taken, one day or another, as that you were a philosopher and soldier. So your day has at length come. 1 am glad of it, with all my heart and soul. It is quite good enough for you. Now you are well served for coming to fight in favor of the American rebels, all the way across the Atlantic ocean, by catching that, terrible contagion — domestic felicity — which, like the smallpox or plague, a man can have only once in his life."
De Chastellux died in 1793, in the midst of the terrible storm of the French Revolution, and by it the fortunes of himself and wife seem to have been swept away, for his widow applied to Washington, two years afterward, for an allowance from our government, on account of the services of her husband, who was in active military duty near New York, and was in the siege at Yorktown. Her application was unsuccessful.
On the second day after Washington's arrival at Mount Vernon — the eleventh of September — the fourth anniversary of the battle of Brandy wine — the mansion, then not nearly so large as now, was crowded with guests ; and at dinner were met gentlemen and ladies from the country for miles around, who had not been at the festive board with the master of the feast since the war broke out. And there were children, too — tiny children, whom the master loved as his own, for they \vere the grandchildren of his wife. There were four of these. The eldest was a beautiful girl, five years old, who afterward married a nephew of Lord Ellenborongh ; and the youngest was a boy-baby, only six months old, who was afterward adopted as the child of Washington, became one of the
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. Ill
executors of his will, and lived until 1857. These were the children of John Parke Custis and his fair young wife, Eleanor Calvert, and had all been born during the absence of the master from his home at Mount Yernon.
Here let us pause a moment and look with the eye of faith in the words of a fellow man, upon the person of the great patriot who sat at the head of the feast on that day. The year before, a writer in the London Chronicle (an anti-ministerial paper), who had seen Washington, thus vividly described him :
" General Washington is now in the forty-seventh year of his age. He is a tall, well-made man, rather large-boned, and has a genteel address. His features are manly and bold ; his eyes of a bluish cast and very lively ; his hair a deep brown ; his face rather long, and marked with the smallpox ; his com- plexion sunburnt, and without much color. His countenance sensible, composed, and thoughtful. There is a remarkable air of dignity about him, with a striking degree of gracefulness. He has. an excellent understanding, without much quickness; is strictly just, vigilant, and generous; an affectionate husband, a faithful friend, a father to the deserving soldier; gentle in his manners, in temper reserved ; a total stranger to relig- ious prejudices ; in morals irreproachable ; and never known to exceed the bounds of the most rigid temperance. In a word, all his friends and acquaintances allow that no man ever united in his own person a more perfect alliance of the virtues of a philosopher with the talents of a general. Candor, sin- cerity, affability, and simplicity seem to be the striking features of his character; and, when occasion offers, the power of display- ing the most determined bravery and independence of spirit."
Domestic felicity and social enjoyment were, at that time,
112 MOUNT VERNON
secondary considerations with Washington, and, on the morn- ing of the 12th of September, lie departed, witli all his mili- tary guests, from his delightful dwelling-place, journeyed to Fredericksburg to embrace his aged mother and receive her blessing, and then hastened on toward Yorktown, where Corn- wallis hud intrenched himself with a view of overrunning Virginia.
There was great sorrow at Mount Yernon on the morning of the departure of the master. It was a grief to the devoted wife to part so soon from her husband, who was on his way to battle, perhaps to death ; but more poignant was her grief as a mother, for John Parke Custis, her only surviving child, in whom her fondest earthly affections were centred, followed Washington to the field as his aide-de-camp. He was then in the flush of manhood, eight-and-twenty years of age, and full of promise. He was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, and very popular wherever known. He now went out to battle, for the first time, leaving his wife and children and his fond mother in the pleasant home at Mount Vernon, with every material comfort around them, but with hearts filled with sadness, and spirits agitated with anxiety and apprehension.
Oh, how eagerly did those wives and mothers at Mount Ver- non watch for the courier who daily brought intelligence from the camp! At length there came a messenger with tidings which produced mingled joy and alarm. He came to tell of a triumph at Yorktown, and of mortal sickness at Eltham, thirty miles from the field where victory had been won. At Yorktown, the allied armies, after a siege of twrelve days, had compelled Cornwall is to surrender, with all his army, seven thousand strong.
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 113
Joy was awakened all over the land as intelligence of this glorious event was spread, by swift couriers, from hamlet to hamlet, from village to village, from city to city. The name of Washington was upon every lip, as the Benefactor, the Lib- erator, the Saviour of his country. And there was peculiar joy and pride at Mount Yernon, when, at early dawn on a frosty morning, a messenger brought the intelligence that prophesied of peace and the speedy return of the loved ones to the safety and repose of domestic life.
But, as we have said, the same messenger brought intelligence that produced serious alarm, and preparations were immediately made at Mount Yernon, for a journey. Young Custis was very sick with camp fever at the house of Colonel Bassett, the husband of his mother's sister, at Eltham. His mother and wife were soon upon the road ; and, in an agony of suspense, they urged the postillion to increase the speed of his horses. When they arrived at Eltham, all hope for the loved one's recovery had vanished.
Washington had sent his old and faithful friend, Doctor Craik, to attend the sufferer, and as soon as his arrangements at Yorktown could be completed, the chief followed. He arrived at Eltham " time enough" he wrrote to Lafayette, " to see poor Mr. Custis breathe his last." In that hour the young wife was made a widow, and the mistress of Mount Yernon a childless woman. The great man bowed his head in deep sor- row, while his tears flowed freely. Then he spoke soothing words to the widowed mother, and said, " Your two younger children I adopt as iny own." These were Eleanor Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis, the former two years and six months of age, and the latter only six months.
8
114
MOUNT VERNON
They both lived beyond the age of threescore and ten, arid Eleanor was considered one of the most beautiful and brilliant women of her day. She married Lawrence Lewis, the favorite nephew of Washington. The nuptials were celebrated on the
KLKA.NOK I'AIIKIv CUSI'IS.
chiefs birthday, 1799. Three days before, "Washington, as her foster-father, wrote from Mount Vernon to the clerk of Fairfax county court, saying :
" SIR : You will please to grant a license for the marriage of Eleanor Parke Custis with Lawrence Lewis, and this shall be your authority for so doing."
The portrait of this beautiful lady, from which our engraving
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 115
is copied, was painted at Philadelphia by Gilbert Stuart. It adorned the mansion at Mount Yernon for several years, and is preserved with care among the Washington treasures of Arlington House.
Late in the autumn of 1781, Washington again visited Mount Vernon for a brief season. It was when he was on his journey to Philadelphia, in November, bearing the laurels of a victor. He \vas accompanied as far as Fredericksburg by a large retinue of American and French officers ; and there, after an interview with his mother, he attended a ball given in honor of the occasion. The aged matron went with him to the assembly, and astonished the French officers by the plainness of her apparel and the quiet simplicity of her manners, for they expected to see the mother of the great chief distinguished by a personal display such as they had been accustomed to be- hold among the families of the great in their own country. They thought of the Dowager Queen of France, of the brilliant Marie Antoinette, and the high-born dames of the court of Louis the Sixteenth, and could not comprehend the vision.
Washington retired with his mother from the gay scene at an early hour, for there was grief in his heart because of the death of his beloved Custis ; and, the next morning, attended by two aides and Billy, he rode to Mount Vernon. His stay there was brief. Public duties beckoned him forward. " I shall remain but a few days here," he wrote to General Greene, " and shall proceed to Philadelphia, when I shall attempt to stimulate Congress to the best improvement of our late success, by taking the most vigorous and effectual measures to be ready for an early and decisive campaign the next year."
Happily for the country, no other campaign of active mili-
116 MOUNT VERNON
tary operations was needed ; and, in the course of a few months, the war was virtually at an end. The desire for peace, which had long burned in the bosom of the British people, now found such potential expression, as to be heeded by the British ministry. The intelligence of the fate of Cornwallis and his army had fallen with all the destructive energy of a bomb- shell in the midst of the war party in parliament/ When Lord North, the premier, heard of it, he paced the room violently, and, throwing his arms wildly about, exclaimed, u O God ! it is all over ! it is all over !" The stoutest declaimer in favor of bayonets and gunpowder, Indian and German mercenaries, as fit instruments for enslaving a free people, began to talk of the expediency of peace ; and at length, by mutual consent, com- missioners were appointed by the contending parties to treat for peace on the basis of the independence of the United States. They were successful; and, early in the spring of 1783, the joyful news, that a treaty had been signed at Paris, reached America, by the French ship Triomphe, sent for the purpose, by Count d'Estaing, at the request of Lafayette.
Washington was then, with hie wife, at Newburgh, the head- quarters of the continental army, happy in having just frus- trated a scheme of some officers to produce a general mutiny among the discontented soldiers. The intelligence- came to him in dispatches from Robert R. Livingston, the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and also in a letter from Alexander Hamilton, and other New York delegates in Congress. It was hailed by the chief with joy, and he immediately wrote the fol- lowing letter to Governor Clinton, which is copied from the original manuscript, now in the archives of the state of New York:
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 117
"HEAD-QUARTERS, March 27, 1783.
" DEAK SIR : — I take the first moment of forwarding to your Excellency the dispatches from the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, which accompany this. They contain, I presume, all the intelligence respecting Peace, on which great and glorious event permit me to congratulate you with the greatest sincerity."
Upon the envelope bearing the superscription, Washing ton wrrote' in large letters, with a broad dash under it — PEACE.
What a glorious word ! What joy must have filled the heart of the commander-in-chief when he wrote that word ! What dreams of repose upon the Potomac, in the quiet shades of his beautiful home must have been presented to his vision at that time ! But many weary months were yet to intervene before he could see his beloved Mount Vernon.
It was not until the 1st of November following that all ar- rangements for the departure of the British army from our shores were completed.
The American army, by a general order of Congress, on the 3d of November, was disbanded, except a small force retained under a definite enlistment, until a peace establish- ment should be organized ; and, on the 25th of that month, the British evacuated the city of New York — their last resting-place upon the soil of the United States — went on board their ships, and sailed for Nova Scotia and Europe, with a large number of loyalists.
On the 4th of December Washington parted with his officers at Fraunces' tavern in New York, and then proceeded
118 MOUNT VERNOtf
toward Annapolis, where Congress was sitting, to resign into their hands his commission as commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States, which had been given him eight years and six months before. He stopped at Philadelphia, and presented his accounts to the proper fiscal officers, and arrived at Annapolis on Friday, the 19th, where he was (joined by Mrs. Washington and many warm personal friends. On Monday he was present at a dinner ordered by the Con- gress, at which more than two hundred persons were seated ; and that evening he opened a grand ball given in his honor, with Mrs. James Macubbin, one of the most beautiful women of her time.
At twelve o'clock on the 23d Washington entered the hall of Congress in the old State House at Annapolis, ac- cording to previous arrangement, and, in the presence of a great concourse of people, presented his resignation to General Thomas Mifflin, the president of that body, accompanying the act by a brief speech. This was responded to by Mifflin. The great Leader of the Continental Armies, now a private citizen, retired, followed by the audience ; and the curtain fell upon the last solemn act in the great drama of the war for independ- ence.
Washington now hastened to Mount Vernon, accompanied by many friends, as an escort of honor, among whom was Colonel Walker, one of the aides of the Baron Steuben, by whose hand he sent a letter to Governor Clinton, the first which he wrote at his home after his retirement. In it he said : " The scene is at last closed. I am now a private citizen on the banks of the Potomac. I feel myself eased of a load of public care. I hope to spend the remainder of my days in
AND 'ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
119
cultivating the affections of good men, and in the practice of the domestic virtues."
It was on Christmas eve, 1783, that Washington, a private citizen, arrived at Mount Yernon, and laid aside forever the
WASHINGTON S MILITARY CLOTHES.
military clothes which he had worn perhaps through more than half the campaigns of the war just ended. Around them clus- tered many interesting associations, and they were preserved with care during the remaining sixteen years of his life. And they are still preserved, in a condition almost as perfect as when the illustrious owner hung them in his wardrobe for the
120 MOUNT V 15 UN ON
last time. They are in a glass case, with other mementos of the FATHER OF ms COUNTRY, in the great model hall of the Patent Office at Washington city. The coat is made of deep blue cloth, faced with buff, with large plain gilt buttons. The waistcoat and breeches aie made of the same kind of buff cloth as the facings of the coat.
On the same occasion, Washington laid aside his battle- sword which he had worn throughout all the later years of the war. It, too, hung at Mount Vernon for almost twenty years, and is carefully preserved in the same glass case in the Patent Office. It is a kind of hanger, incased in a black leather scabbard, with silver mountings. The handle is ivory, colored a pale green, and wound in spiral grooves with thin silver wire. It was manufactured by J. Bailey, in Fishkill, Dutchess county, New York, and has the maker's name engraved upon the blade. The belt is of white leather, mounted with silver, and was doubtless used by Washington in the old French war, for upon a silver plate attached to it is engraved " 1757."
With this sword is a long, knotty, black cane, with a golden head, which was bequeathed to Washington by Doctor Frank- lin, in the following clause in the codicil to his will :
" My fine crab-tree walking-stick, with a gold head curiously wrought in the form of a cap of liberty, I give to my friend, and the friend of mankind, General Washington. If it were a sceptre, he has merited it, and would become it. It was a present to me from that excellent woman, Madame de For- bach, the dowager Duchess of Deuxponts, connected with some verses which should go with it."
These "verses" have been lost, and for them we will substi-
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121
tute the beautiful ode, by Morris, alluding to these precious relics, entitled
"THE SWORD AND THE STAFF.
THE SWORD ANL> TUB STAFF.
" The sword of the Hero !
The staff of the Sage ! "Whose valor and wisdom
Are stamp'd on the age ! Time-hallowed mementos
Of those who have riven The sceptre from tyrants,
' The lightning from heaven.'
n.
"This weapon, 0 Freedom!
Was drawn, by thy son,
And it never was sheath'd
Till the battle was won I
No stain of dishonor
Upon it we see I 'Twas never surrerider'd — Except to the free 1
in. ' While Fame claims the hero
And patriot sage, Their names to emblazon
On History's page, No holier relics
Will Liberty hoard, Than FRANKLIN'S staff, guarded
By WASHINGTON'S sword."
In the same glass case are other interesting relics of Wash- ington, the most conspicuous of which is his camp-chest, an old-fashioned hair trunk, twenty-one inches in length, fifteen in width, and ten in depth, filled with the table furniture used by the commander-iii-chief during the war. The compart-
MOUNT VBRKOX
nients are so ingeniously arranged, that they contain a great number of articles in a small space. These consist of a gridiron ; a tea and coffee pot ; three tin saucepans (one
WASHINGTON'S CAMP-CHEST.
movable handle being used for all) ; five small glass flasks, used for honey, salt, coffee, port-wine, and vinegar ; three large tin meat dishes ; sixteen plates ; two knives and five forks ; a candlestick and tinder-box ; tin boxes for tea and sugar, and five small bottles for pepper and other materials for making soup.
Washington alluded to the tin plates in this camp-chest, in the following letter to Doctor John Cochran, surgeon-general of the northern department of the continental army, written at West Point on the 16th of August, 1779 :
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 123
" DKAK DOCTOR : — I have asked Mrs. Cochran and Mrs. Livingston to dine with me to-morrow ; but am I not in honor bound to apprise them of their fare? As I hate deception, even where the imagination only is concerned, I will. It is needless to premise that my table is large enough to hold the ladies. Of this they had ocular proof yesterday. To say how it is usually covered is rather more essential ; and this shall be the purport of my letter.
"Since our arrival at this happy spot, we have had a ham, sometimes a shoulder of bacon, to grace the head of the table ; a piece of roast beef adorns the foot ; and a dish of beans, or greens, almost imperceptible, decorates the centre. When the cook has a mind to cut a figure, which I presume will be the case to-morrow, we have two beef-steak pies, or dishes of crabs, in addition, one on each side of the centre dish, dividing the space and reducing the distance between disli and dish to about six feet, which, without them, would be nearly twelve feet apart. Of late he has had the surprising sagacity to dis- cover that apples will make pies ; and it is a question if, in the violence of his efforts, we do not get one of apples, instead of having both of beef-steaks. If the ladies can put up with such entertainment, and will submit to partake of it on plates once tin but now iron (not become so by the labor of scouring), I shall be happy to see them ; and am, dear doctor, vours, &c.,
" GEO. WASHINGTON."
Later in the war, Washington had a pair of plain silver goblets, with his crest engraven upon them, which he used in his tent. These were the only examples of a departure from that rigid economy which he exhibited in all his personal
124
MOUNT VERNON
SILVER CAMP-GOBLKT.
arrangements while in the army, not because lie was parsimo- nious, but because he wished to set an example of plainness and self-denial to all around him. These goblets are now used
in the family of Colonel Lee at Arlington House.
What a contrast do these simple table arrangements, and, indeed, all the movements and appointments of the great Re- publican Leader, present to those of the generals of the old world, and of those of antiquity in particular, whose achieve- ments for the benefit of mankind, placed in the scale of just appreciation, are small compared with his.
After the victory at Yorktown, the marquee and tent used by Washington were folded up and placed in the leathern portmanteau in which they were carried, and were never again spread upon the field in camp, siege, or battle. They wen made by Captain Moulder, of Philadelphia, who commanded a corps of artillery in the battle at Princeton. The marquee was used for general purposes — for the reception of visitors, consultations of officers, dining, et cetera — and the smaller tent was for more private uses. In the latter Washington retired for meditation, and wrote his letters and dispatches for his secretaries to copy ; and in one part of it was a dormitory, wherein he slept. It composed the private apartment of his canvas dwelling upon the field, and few were allowed to enter it.
What a history is involved in the experience of that tent!
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 125
How many important dispatches were written within it, upon the little writing-case, or portfolio, that was presented to President Taylor by Washington's adopted son, and by him deposited, with other mementos of the great Leader, in the
WASHINGTON S TRAVELLING WRITING-CASE
Patent Office, where it is well preserved ! How many anxious hours did that great Leader pass beneath the narrow canopy of that tent? How often, during that long war, did the forms of Heed, and Harrison, and Hamilton, and Tilghman, and Meade, and Humphreys darken the door of that tent as they passed in and out with messages and dispatches to and from the illustrious chief !
And in the large marquee, what a noble band of mighty men — mighty in moral force — among the noblest the world ever saw — were gathered in council from time to time, and determined those movements which achieved the independence of these states ! In it, too, many distinguished men sat at the table of thq- chief — members of the old congresses ; foreigners of note in diplomacy and war ; and last, Cornwallis as captive and guest, after his humiliation at Yorktown. It was quite spacious, and, when fully spread, one hundred guests might conveniently dine beneath its ample roof.
That marquee and tent, wrapped in the old portmanteau, with the poles and cords as they were taken from the battle-
126 MOUNT VERNON
field, are at Arlington House. The former has been spread occasionally for peaceful purposes. For several years Mr. Oustis, who was much interested in the improvement of the breeds of sheep, had annual gatherings of the friends of agriculture and manufactures at a fine spring on his estate, near the banks of the Potomac, in the early days of May. On
WASHINGTON'S TKNTS IN THEIR PORTMANTEAUX.
these occasions the old marquee would be erected, and some- times nearly two hundred guests would assemble under it to partake of refreshments. These " sheep-shearings at Arlington Spring " are remembered with pleasure by the surviving parti- cipants.
When Lafayette was in this country, in 1824 and '25, as the guest of the nation, that marquee was used at Baltimore by the Society of the Cincinnati, for the purpose of receiving the Illustrious Friend as the guest of that fraternity — a fraternity of which he had been a member ever since its formation on the banks of the Hudson, more than forty years before. On that occasion Colonel John Eager Howard, one of the heroes of the Cowpens, presided ; and Charles Carroll, who soon after-
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 127
waid had the proud distinction of being the last survivor of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was a guest. And twice since that memorable reception, that war-tent, so often spread upon the line of march and on the battle-field, has been used in the service of the Prince of Peace. On these occasions it was pitched in green fields in the midst of beauty and repose, and thousands came and willingly paid liberal tribute for the privilege of sitting under the TENT OF WASHING- TON. Two churches were erected with the proceeds.
We have just alluded to the Society of the Cincinnati. It is a fraternity originally composed of officers of the Revolution, and was formed a little while before the disbanding and dis- persion of the Continental Army. Its chief object was the perpetuation and occasional renewal of the long-cherished friendship and social intercourse which had existed between the officers of the army. The idea originated with General Knox. He communicated it to Washington, who not only approved of it, but gave the efforts to form a society upon such a basis of feeling, his cordial co-operation.
It was in the spring of 1783 that the Society of the Cincin- nati \vas formed. The head-quarters of the army were then at Newburgh. A committee, composed of Generals Knox, Hand, and Huntington, and the accomplished Captain Shaw, was appointed to arrange a plan ; and, on the 13th of May, at the quarters of the Baron Steuben, in Fishkill, nearly opposite Newburgh, they reported a form which was adopted as the constitutional organization of the society. After referring to the war for independence, and the separation of the colonies from Great Britain, the objects of the society were stated in the fol' owing words:
128 MOUNT VP:RNON
" To perpetuate, therefore, as well the remembrance of this vast event, as the mutual friendships which have been formed under the pressure of common danger, and in many instances cemented by the blood of the parties, the officers of the Amer- ican army do hereby, in the most solemn manner, associate, constitute, and combine themselves into one society of friends, to endure so long as they shall endure, or any of their eldest male posterity, and in failure thereof, the collateral branches, who may be judged worthy of becoming its supporters and members."
As the officers of the army were chiefly Americans, and were about to return to their citizenship, they appropriately named the society, in honor of the illustrious Roman, Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus, whose example they were about to imitate. They resolved that the following principles should form the basis of the society :
1. "An incessant attention to preserve inviolate those ex- alted rights and liberties of human nature for which they have fought and bled, and without which the high rank of a rational being is a curse instead of a blessing.
2. " An unalterable determination to promote and cherish, between the respective states, that unison and national honor so essentially necessary to their happiness and the future dig- nity of the American empire.
3. " To render permanent the cordial affection subsisting among the officers, this spirit will dictate brotherly kindness in all things, and particularly extend to the most substantial acts of "beneficence, according to the ability of the society, toward those officers and their families who unfortunately may be under the necessity of receiving it."
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
129
For the sake of frequent communication, the association was divided into state societies, to meet annually on the 4th of July, or often er if they should find it expedient. The society also adopted an Order by which its members should be known and distinguished. It is composed of a medal of gold with proper em- blems, " suspended by a deep-blue ribbon two inches wide, edged with white, descriptive of the union of America with France."
A representation of the Order, full size, is seen in the engraving. The leaves of the olive branches are of gold and green enamel ; the head and tail of the eagle gold and white enamel ; and the sky in the centre device (which is a fac- simile of one of the medallions on the certificate of membership), is blue enamel.
The French officers who served in the continental army presented to Washington an elegant Order, studded with precious stones, about two hundred in number. The leaves of the olive branches and
ORDER OF THE CINCINNATI.
wreath are composed of emeralds, the berries of ruby, and the beak of the eagle amethyst. Above the eagle is a group of military emblems — flags, drums, and cannon — surrounding a
9
130
MOUNT VERNON
ribbon, upon which are inscribed the words : " PRESENTED, IN
THE NAME OF THE FRENCH SOLDI K RS, TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE
GENERAL WASHINGTON." This also is studded with precious stones. Above it is a bow of moire antique ribbon, of light-blue color, with white edges. This jewel is at present [1859J in the possession of the Honorable Hamilton Fish, of New York,
president of the Society of the Cincinnati.
The Society had a certifi- cate of membership engraved in France, by J. J. Le Yeau, from a drawing by Aug. Le Belle. It occupies a space thirteen and a half inches in width and twenty inches in length, and was printed on line vellum. The engraving upon the next page is a fac- simile on a reduced scale. The design represents Amer- ican liberty as a strong man arme'd, bearing in one hand the Union flag, and in the other a naked sword. Beneath his feet are British flags, and a broken spear, shield, and chain. Hovering by his side is the eagle, our national emblem, from whose talons the lightning of destruction is flashing upon the British lion. Britannia, with the crown falling from her head, is hastening toward a boat to escape to a fleet, which denotes the departure of British
ORDER PRESENTtU BY FRfcNCH OFFICERS.
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
131
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132 MOUNT VKRNON
power from our shores. Upon a cloud, on the right, is an angel blowing a trumpet, from which flutters a loose scroll. Upon the scroll are the sentences : Palam nuntiata libertas, A. D. 1776. Fcedus sociale oum Gallia, A. D. 1778. Pax: libertas parta, A. D. 1783 — " Independence declared, A. D. 1776. Treaty of alliance with France declared, A. D. 1778. Peace ! independence obtained, A. D. 1783."
Upon the medallion on the right is a device representing Cincinnatus at his plow, a ship on the sea, and a walled town in the distance. Over his head is a flying angel, holding a ribbon inscribed: Virtutis piwmium ; "Reward of virtue." Below is a heart, with the words: Esto perpetua; "Be thou perpetual." Upon the rim is the legend : Societas Cincinna- torum Instituta A. D. MDCCLXXXIIL; "Society of the Cincinnati, instituted 1783." The device upon the medallion on the left is Cincinnatus, with his family, near his house. He is receiving a sword and shield from three senators : an army is seen in the distance. Upon the rim are the words : Omnia relinqui tservare rempublicam • " He abandons every thing to serve his country" (referring to Cincinnatus).
"Washington was chosen the first president-general of the Society of the Cincinnati, and General Henry Knox the secre- tary. The former remained in office until his death, a period of sixteen years, and was succeeded by General Alexander Hamilton. All of the certificates given to the original mem- bers, like the one delineated in the engraving, were filled up and signed by Washington, at Mount Yernon.
We have observed that it wras Christmas eve when Wash- ington arrived at Mount Yernon from Annapolis, once more a private citizen. What a glad Christmas was that for all in
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 133
that pleasant home on the banks of the Potomac ! It was a Christmas to be specially remembered by the retired soldier. It was a day long hoped for by him when engaged in the mighty labors of his official station. Rest, rest he often sighed for, and now the elements seemed to sympathize in his great desire. An intensely severe winter closed almost every avenue to Mount Vernon, and even neighborly intercourse was sus- pended. Washington had rest in abundance. To Lafayette he wrote on the first of February following his retirement: " On the eve of Christmas I entered these doors an older man by near nine years, than when I left them. Since that period, we have been fast locked up in frost and snow, and excluded in a manner from all kinds of intercourse."
" I have not only retired from all public employments," he added, " but I am retiring within myself, and shall be able to view the solitary walks, and tread the paths of private life with heartfelt satisfaction. Envious of none, I am determined to be pleased with all ; and this, my dear friend, being the order of my march, I will move gently down the stream of life, until I sleep with my fathers."
And yet, even in that perfect retirement, it was several weeks before Washington could entirely divest his mind of the burden of solicitude for public aifairs. To General Knox he wrote on the 20th of February : " I am just beginning to experience that ease and freedom from public cares, which, however desirable, takes some time to realize ; for strange as it may seem, it is nevertheless true, that it was not till lately I could get the better of my usual custom of ruminating, as soon as I waked in the morning, on the business of the ensuing day ; and of my surprise at finding, after revolving many things in
134 MOUNT VERNON
my mind, that I was no longer a public man, nor had any thing to do with public transactions.
"I feel now, however, as I conceive a wearied traveller must do, who, after treading many a painful step with a heavy burden on his shoulders, is eased of the latter, having reached the haven to which all the former were directed ; and from his house-top is looking back, and tracing with an eager eye the meanders by which he escaped the quicksands and mires which lay in his way ; and into which none but the all-power- ful Guide and Dispenser of human events could have prevent- ed his falling."
Never had a traveller more cause for serenity of mind and perfect gratitude, in the hour of calm retrospection, than George Washington at that time ; and also twelve years later, when he resigned the helm of the vessel of state into other hands, and sought repose for the last time in the shades of Mount Yernon. And when he fully realized his relief, his social desires, so long repressed, came into full play, and renewals of old acquaintance and friendly correspondence took place. "Freed from the clangor of arms and the bustle of a camp," he wrote to the wife of Lafayette, in April, after receiving information that the marquis intended to visit America soon — " Freed from the cares of public employment and the responsibility of office, I am now enjoying domestic- ease under the shadow of my own vine and my own fig-tree ; and in a small villa, with the implements of husbandry and lambkins around me, I expect to glide gently down the stream of life, till I am entombed in the mansion of my fathers, * * * Come, then, let me entreat you, and call my cottage your home ; for your own doors do not open to you with more
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 135
readiness than mine would. You will see the plain manner in which we live, and meet with rustic civility ; and you shall taste the simplicity of rural life. It will diversify the scene, and may give you a higher relish for the gaieties of the court, when you return to Versailles."
" My manner of living is plain," he wrote to a friend, " and I do not mean to be put out by it. A glass of wine and a bit of mutton are always ready, and such as will be content to partake of them are always welcome. Those who expect more will be disappointed."
But this modest dream of quietude and simplicity of life was not realized. Washington w^as the central figure of the group of great men who had laid the foundations of the republic. To- him the eyes of the nation were speedily turned for counsel and action, for that republic and all its dependent interests- were soon in peril. He was too great to remain an isolated citizen, and men of every degree, his own countrymen and strangers, were soon seen upon pilgrimages to Mount Vernon ; and the little " villa" was too small to shelter in comfort the many guests that often assembled under its roof.
Washington now took a general survey of all his affairs, and turned his thoughts to the improvement of his farms, the en- largement of his mansion, and the adornment of the grounds around it. These improvements were commenced in the spring of 1784, and then the construction of the house, in its present form was resolved upon. The mansion built by Lawrence Washington, and called a " villa" by the general, was of the old gable-roofed style, with only four rooms upon each floor, as we have observed. It was about one-third the size of the pres- ent building, and in the alteration, it was made to occupy the
13(5 MOUNT VERNON
.central portion, the two ends having been built at the same time. The mansion, when completed by General Washington, i(and as it now appears) was of the most substantial frame- work, two stories in height, ninety-six feet in length, thirty feet in depth, with a piazza fifteen feet in width, extending Along the entire eastern or river front, supported by sixteen square columns, twenty-five feet in height. Over this piazza is a balustrade of a light and pleasing design ; and in the centre of the roof is an observatory with a small spire. There ,are ^even dormer windows in the roof, three on the eastern side, one on each end, and two on the western or lawn side.
The ground floor of the house contains six rooms, with a spacious passage in the centre of the building, extending through it from east to west. From it a massive staircase ascends to the chambers. The rooms and the passage are all wainscoted, and have large worked cornices; and they present to the eye the appearance of great solidity. On the south side of the passage is a parlor, and the library and break- fast-room of Washington, from which a narrow staircase ascends to his private study on the second floor. On the north side of the passage are a reception-room and parlor, and a large drawing-room, in which, when there was much company, the guests were sometimes entertained at table. These apartments and their present appearance and uses we will consider else- where.
Near the mansion, a substantial kitchen on one side, and store-room and laundry on the other, were built, and these were connected with the dwelling by very neat open colon- nades, each with roof and pavement ; and, at a little distance from them, two other strong buildings were erected for house-
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
137
WESTEKN FRONT OF MODNT VERNON, AS IT APPEARED IN 1858.
servants' quarters. The mansion, the kitchen and store-house, with the connecting colonnades, and the servants' quarters, all remain, and exhibit the same external appearance which they bore when Washington left them. These may be best seen from the lawn that spreads out before the western front of the mansion, which is first approached by visitors in carriages, there being no road for horses upon the grounds before the river-front.
In the prosecution of these improvements Washington was his own architect, and drew every plan and specification for the workmen with his own hand. Every measurement
138 MOUNT VERIZON
was calculated and indicated with exactness : and in every arrangement for his home, he appears to have made convenience and durability the prime objects of his care. The following letter to Mr. William Rumney, of Alexandria (who had been an aide to General Charles Lee at one time during the Revolu- tion), will give an idea of the carefulness and forethought of Washington in the management of his aifairs. Mr. Rumney was then about to leave for England :
"General Washington .presents his compliments to Mr. Rurn- ney — would esteem it as a particular favor if Mr. Rumney would make the following enquiries as soon as convenient after his arrival in England, and communicate the result of them by the Packet, or any other safe and expeditious conveyance to this country.
" 1st. The terms upon which the best kind of Whitehaven flag-stone — black and white in equal quantities — could be delivered at the Port of Alexandria, by the superficial foot, — workmanship, freight, and every other incidental charge included. The stone to be 2£ Inches, or there- abouts, thick ; and exactly a foot square — each kind. To have a rich polished face, and good joints so as that a neat floor may be made therewith.
" 2nd. Upon what terms the common Irish Marble (black and white if to be had) — same dimensions, could be delivered as above.
" 3rd. As the General has been informed of a very cheap
kind of Marble, good in quality, at or in the neighborhood
of Ostend, he would thank Mr. Rumney, if it should fall
in his way, to institute an enquiry into this also.
" On the Report of Mr. Rumney, the General will take his
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 139
ultimate determination ; for which reason he prays him to be precise and exact. The Piazza or Colonnade, for which this is wanted as a floor, is ninety-two feet eight inches, by twelve feet eight inches within ths margin, or border that surrounds it. Over and above the quantity here mentioned, if the above Flags are cheap— or a cheaper kind of hard Stone could be had, he would get as much as would lay floors in the Circular Colonnades, or covered ways at the wings of the House — each of which at the outer curve, is 38 feet in length by 7 feet 2 Inches in breadth, within the margin or border as aforesaid.
" The General being in want of a House Joiner & Bricklayer who understand their respective trades perfectly, would thank Mr. Rumney for enquiring into the terms upon which such workmen might be engaged for two or three years (the time of service to commence upon the ship's arrival at Alexandria); a shorter term than two years would not answer, because foreigners generally have a seasoning, which with other inter- ruptions too frequently waste the greater part of the first year — more to the disadvantage of the employer than the Em- ployed.— Bed, board & Tools to be found by the former, cloth- ing by the latter.
" If two men of the above Trades and of orderly and quiet deportment could be obtained for twenty-five or even thirty pounds sterling per annum each (estimating the dollar at 4s. 6d.), the General, rather than sustain the loss of Time neces- sary for communication would be obliged to Mr. Rurnney for entering into proper obligatory articles of agreement on his behalf with them and sending them by the first vessel bound to this Port. " GEO. WASHINGTON.
"MOUNT VERNONr July 5r 1784."
140
MOUNT V K R N 0 N
The pavement-stone procured
,/ w.
-UM. °°" •'.„ © 5 POPLAR! -ID
H.CHE:
HOLLYl
SECTION OF SHADED C.VRRIAGE-WAT.
through Mr. Rumney, in ac- cordance with the foregoing order, still exists beneath the grand piazza and the colon- nades, but in a dilapidated state. Many of the blocks are gone, others are broken, and all show abrasion by footsteps and the elements. Many of the carpenter's tools, imported from Eng- land at that time by Wash- ington, for the use of his workmen, are preserved.
Washington was very fond of planting trees and shrub- bery ; and his diaries show that he was much engaged in that business in 1784 and 1785. He went to the woods almost every day to select and mark young trees for transplanting to the grounds around the mansion, and he generally superintended their removal.
In the rear of the man- sion, Washington laid out a fine lawn, upon a level sur- face, which comprises about
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
141
GENERAL PLAN OP THE MANSION AND GROUNDS AT MOUNT VERNON.
A The Mansion.
B Oval Grass-plot.
C The Lawn
I) D Flower-garden.
E E Vegetable Garden.
P F Kitchen and Laundry
G G House-servants' Quarters.
II H Circular Colonnades.
I I Water closets.
J J Seed -houses.
K Carriapp-way as finally laid out
L Outside Koad.
142 MOUNT VERNON
twenty acres. Around it he made a serpentine carriage-way ; and he planted a great variety of shade trees upon each side of it. Upon one side of the lawn he formed a spacious flower- garden, and upon the other an equally spacious vegetable gar- den, and these were planted with the greatest care, according to the minute directions of the master. I have before me the original plan of these grounds, made by Washington's own hands. It is very carefully drawn. The exact position and the name of every tree to be planted, are laid down. With it is a section-drawing, on a larger scale, showing the proposed car- riage-way around the lawn, the names of a large number of trees that were to adorn it, and the places of others indicated by letters and numerals, which are explained by a memorandum. Directly before the western front an oval grass-plot was designed, with a dial-post in the centre, and a carriage-way around it.
The lawn, the oval grass-plot, and the gardens were laid out according to the plan drawn by Washington, and remain unchanged in form. Quite a large number of trees, planted along the margins of the carriage-way, at that time, are yet there, and are noble specimens of their kind. Many others have decayed and passed awray ; and, in some instances, quite large trees now stand where others were planted by the hand of Washington three-quarters of a century ago.
In each garden Washington erected small houses, of octag- onal form, for the storage of seeds and implements of hor- ticulture. These are yet standing. The lower portion of each is of brick, and the remainder of plank, wrought so as to resemble blocks of stone. These garden-houses, and water- closets of similar form and dimensions, standing on the borders of the garden near the mansion, are now [1859] fallen into
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
143
almost hopeless decay. The massive brick walls around both gardens remain in perfect preservation.
On the north side of the flower-garden Washington erected quite an extensive conservatory for plants, into which he col- lected many rare exotics. Some of them were presented to him as testimonials of esteem, and others were purchased at the garden of John Bartram, near Philadelphia. Bartram was a member of the Society of Friends, and an eminent botanist. He had died during the Revolution, leaving his business in the able hands of his son "William, who, in 1791, published a most interesting account of his botanical explora- tions through the Southern states of our Union.
144
MOUNT VERNON
A few tropical plants found their way to the Potomac oc- casionally, upon vessels from the West Indies. Among the latter, on one occasion, were some fine lemon-trees of large
CKNTURY PLANT AND LBHOM-TEKX.
growth, and from them Washington selected two or three. Others were propagated from these by cuttings, until, at the time of his death, they had become quite a grove in one end of the conservatory. Only one of these now remains. It was standing in the flower-garden when I was there in 1S58, by the side of a fine century-plant, which was sent to Washington by a gentleman at Porto Rico, in 1798. The tree is about fifteen feet in height ; and, though bearing fruit in abundance, shows signs of decay.
At the junction of two of the principal avenues in the
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
14:5
VIEW IN THE FLOVVtK-GABDEN AT MOL'XT VBRNON — THK SAGO PALM.
flower-garden, I saw one other plant — and only one — that had experienced the fostering care of Washington. It was a Sago Palm, an East India production, from which is obtained the article of domestic use known as pearl sago, a species of fecula or starch. It stands in a large tub in which flowers were blooming; and its tufted leaves, like immense feathers, growing from the heavy stem seven feet from the ground, were fresh and beautiful.
The Lemon Tree, the Century Plant, and the Sago Palm, are all that remain of the movable plants which belonged to Washington, and were taken from the green-house when it 10
146
MOUNT .VERNON
was destroyed by fire in December, 1835, the same night when the destructive element consumed more than five hun- dred buildings and other property valued at more than twenty millions of dollars, in the city of New York. The fire origi- nated in a defective flue connected with the conservatory, and
KUJ.NS OF TUB CONSERVATORY AT MOUNT VEHA'ON.
that building, with the servants' quarters adjoining it, was laid in ashes in the course of a few hours. What plants were saved from the flames were mostly destroyed by the frost, for it was one of the coldest nights on record.
The conservatory was never rebuilt nor the ruins removed. These, now overgrown with vines and shrubs, form a pict- uresque garden wall, but lose some of their attractiveness to the eye of taste, by the presence of two tall, perpendicular chimneys, which are seen above the shrubbery from every point of view in the garden. These broken walls, too, strike the visitor unpleasantly. They are at the modern carriage
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
147
entrance to Mount Vernon, and are the first objects associated with "Washington that meet the eye on approaching the man- sion from the public road.
ICE-HODSE A.T MOUNT VEKNON.
Eastward of the flower-garden, and on the opposite side of the present entrance to Mount Vernon, Washington con- structed an ice-house, after his retirement from public life, at the close of his presidency. It was something new in Vir- ginia ; indeed, ice-houses were not in very common use else- where at that time. It is well preserved, and is finely shaded by tall trees, which form a beautiful grove on the north side of the mansion.
Previous to the erection of this ice-house, Washington had used, for the purpose of keeping meat, butter, and vegetables cool in summer, a large dry-well at the south-east corner of the lawn in front of the mansion, just on the brink of the high precipitous bank of the river. Into this a descent was made
148
MOUNT VKRNON
by a flight of steps, and over it he erected an elegant summer- house, with a spire and iron vane in the form of a crescent. The well and the summer-house are there, but a part of the walls of the former have fallen in. From the summer-house fine views
AT Morxr TERNO.V.
of the Potomac may be obtained, but as the staircase leading to it has nearly rotted away, there is difficulty and some danger in climbing up into it over the chasm formed by the caving in of the side of the well. It was from that summer-house that the sketch was made of the mansion, out-buildings, and lawn, with the visitors, as they appear in the frontispiece to this volume.
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 149
I have before me a manuscript memorandum from the hand of Washington, in which he notes, in minute detail, the dis- tances and directions in feet and inches, and by points of compass, of various objects, such as the garden-houses, the dial-post, and the dry-well, from the " front door of the man- sion." It is interesting, as showing the extreme minuteness and accuracy with which Washington kept a record of all his operations, and might serve those who are about to restore Mount Vernon to its original form and perfection, as an indi- cator of points now lost through neglect and decay.
During the spring and summer of 1784, visitors flocked to Mount Vernon in great numbers. Many of the companions in arms of the beloved chief, of all grades, from general officers to private soldiers, went there to pay their respects, and enjoy once again sweet intercourse with him under whom they had always delighted to serve.
At length one came who was specially a man after Wash- ington's own heart — a young man whom he loved as a son or a younger brother. He had been a friend to the Americans in their struggle for freedom, and was a friend of mankind. That visitor was the Marquis de Lafayette, a distinguished scion of an ancient noble family, who, in the summer of 1776, while at the table of the commandant of Mentz, in Ger- many, with other French officers, heard the Duke of Glouces- ter, brother to the King of England, speak of the Declaration of Independence just put forth by the Anglo-American colo- nies, and of the strong measures adopted by the British ministry to crush the rising rebellion. The marquis was then just past eighteen years of age, slender in form, and a boy in personal appearance. But the heart of a patriot and hero beat
150 MOUNT VERNON
beneath his coat of green, and his imagination and zeal were fired by the recital of the story of a people fighting for liberty. He returned to Paris full of high resolves, and leaving there an equally enthusiastic and a cheerfully consenting young wife — the lich and beautiful daughter of the Duke de Noailles — he came to America, volunteered to fight in the cause of colo- nial emancipation, and, throughout the war, performed services in the field here, and at the court of France, of inestimable benefit to the country. Life, youth, fortune, the endearments of home, were all freely devoted to the cause, and he made the aspirations of the Americans emphatically his own, with an en- thusiasm that scorned all obstacles. "It is fortunate for the king," said the old Count Maurepas, " that Lafayette does not take it into his head to strip Versailles of its furniture to send to his dear Americans, as his majesty would be unable to refuse it."
Washington, governed by his intuitive perception of char- acter, which never deceived him, took Lafayette to his bosom on his first arrival at Philadelphia, in 1777; and from that hour until death severed the bond, they were friends of truest character. And now, the intelligence that this dear friend was about to visit him in his quiet home at Mount Ver- non gave Washington a most exquisite pleasure. The portrait of the marquis, painted by Charles Willson Peale, in 1778, was then hanging upon the wall of his parlor : it now occupies a prominent place among the works of art at Arlington House.
Lafayette arrived at New York on the 4th of August, 1784, after a passage of thirty-four days from France. There he received the congratulations of the citizens for a few days, and then hastened toward Mount Yernon. He was detained in Philadelphia two or three days, and there wrote as follows :
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 151
"PHILADELPHIA, Tuesday Evening.
" Mr DEAR GENERAL : — I have already had the pleasure to acquaint you with my arrival in America, and am endeavor- ing to reach Mount Yernon as soon as possible. My first plan was only to stay here two days, but the affectionate reception I have met with in this city, and the returning some compli- ments to the Assembly, render it necessary for me to stay one day longer. On Friday I will be at the head of Elk, the next clay at Baltimore, and by Sunday or Monday I hope at last to be blessed with a sight of my dear General. There is no rest for me until I go to Mount Yernon. I long for the pleasure to embrace you, my dear General, and the happiness of being once more with you will be so great that no words can ever express it. In a few days I will be at Mount Yernon, and I do already feel delighted with so charming a prospect. My best respects wait upon Mrs. "Washington, and not long after you receive this I shall tell you myself how respectfully and affectionately I have the honor to be, my dear General,
" Your most obedient, humble servant,
" LAFAYETTE.
" In case your affairs call you to the Springs, I beg leave either to go there after you, or to accompany you in your jour- ney."
Lafayette arrived at Mount Yernon on the 17th, and re- mained twelve days in the enjoyment of the most sincere friendship and genuine hospitality. During that time Mount Yernon was crowded with other guests, who came to meet the great benefactor of America ; and when he departed for Balti-
152
MOUNT VKRNOX
*~ \(
LAKAYKTTE PAINTED BY C. \V. PEALE, IX 1778.
more, quite a cavalcade of gentlemen accompanied him far on his way.
There was a bond of union, of peculiar strength, between Washington and Lafayette other than that of mere personal friendship. They were members of the fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons, and both loved the mystic brotherhood sin- cerely. Madame Lafayette was deeply interested in every- thing that engaged the attention of her husband ; and she had learned to reverence Washington with a feeling closely allied to that of devotion. She had corresponded with him, and received from him cordial invitations to the simple delights of rural life at Mount Vernon. She had, no doubt, earnestly desired to present some visible testimonial of her regard to the
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.
153
great patriot of the New World; and when her husband resolved to visit him in his retirement at Mount Vernon, she prepared, with her own hands, an apron of white satin, upon
MASOiNIC APRON, WROUGHT BY MAUAXB THE MARCHIONESS LAFAYETTE.
which she wrought, in needlework, the various emblems qf the Masonic order. This apron Lafayette brought with him, and presented to his distinguished brother at Mount Vernon. It was kept by Washington as a cherished memorial of a noble woman ; and, after his death, his legatees formally presented
154: MOUNT VERNON
it to the Washington Benevolent Society of Philadelphia, in the following words :
"To THE WASHINGTON BENEVOLENT SOCIETY.
" The legatees of General Washington, impressed with the most profound sentiments of respect for the noble institution which they have the honor to address, beg leave to present to them the enclosed relic of the revered and lamented Father of his Country. They are persuaded that the apron, which was once possessed by the man whom Philadelphians always delighted to honor, will be considered most precious to the society distinguished by his name, and by the benevolent and grateful feelings to which it owes • its foundation. That this perishable memento of a hero, whose fame is more durable than brass, may confer as much pleasure upon those to whom it is presented as is experienced by the donors, is the sincere wish of the legatees.
"October 2Gth, 1816."
When the society to which this apron was presented was dissolved, the precious memento of Washington and his fair friend was presented to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and now occupies a conspicuous place upon the walls of the Grand Master's room in Masonic Hall, Philadelphia, carefully pre- served under glass, in a frame.
More than two years previous to the visit of Lafayette, Washington received from the late Elkanah Watson, and his business partner, M. Cossoul, several Masonic ornaments, ac- companied by the following letter :
AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. loo
"To HIS EXCELLENCY, GENEKAL WASHINGTON, AMERICA. " Most Illustrious and Respected Brother :
" In the moment when all Europe admire and feel the effects of your glorious efforts in support of American liberty, we hasten to offer for your acceptance a small pledge of our homage. Zealous lovers of liberty and its institutions, we have experienced the most refined joy in seeing our chief and brother stand forth in defence of a new-bom nation of repub- licans.
" Your glorious career will not be confined to the protection of American liberty, but its ultimate effect will extend to the whole human family, since Providence has evidently selected you as an instrument in His hands to fulfil His eternal decrees.
"It is to you, therefore, the glorious orb of America, we presume to offer Masonic ornaments, as an emblem of your virtues. May the Grand Architect of the universe be the guardian of your precious days, for the glory of the western hemisphere and the entire universe. Such are the vows of those who have the favor to be by all the known numbers, " Your affectionate brothers,
"WATSON & COSSOUL.
"EAST OF NANTES, 23d 1st Month, 5782."
Washington replied as follows, from his head-quarters at Newburgh :
"STATE OF NEW YORK, August IQth, 1782.
" GENTLEMEN : — The Masonic ornaments which accompanied your brotherly address of the 23d of January last, though
156 MOUNT VERNON
elegant in themselves, were rendered more valuable by the flattering sentiments and affectionate manner in which they were presented.
" If my endeavors to avert the evil with which the country was threatened, by a deliberate plan of tyranny, should be crowned with the success that is wished, the praise is due to the Grand Architect of the universe, who did not see fit to suffer His superstructure of justice to be subjected to the ambition of the princes of this world, or to the rod of oppres- sion in the hands of any power upon earth.
" For your affectionate vows permit me to be grateful, and offer mine for true brothers in all parts of the world, and to assure you of the sincerity with which I am,
" Yours,
" GEO. WASHINGTON.
'• Messrs. WATSON & COSSOUL, East of Nantes."
Watson says, in relation to this gift : " Wishing to pay some mark of respect to our beloved Washington, I employed, in conjunction with my friend M. Cossoul, nuns in one of the convents at Nantes, to prepare some elegant Masonic orna- ments, and gave them a plan for combining the American and French flags on the apron designed for his use." They were executed in a superior and expensive style, being wrought in gold and silver tissue.
This regalia was sent by Washington to Mount Vernon, and was afterwrard worn by him when he met his brethren in the lodge at Alexandria. The apron and collar are now in possession of Washington Lodge, Alexandria, to which they were presented by the late George Washington Parke Custis.
AND ITS ASSOCIATION'S. 157
The reverence which was felt for the person of Washington by individuals was expressed by public bodies, even, as in the example just given, before the close of the struggle which he conducted so nobly. The Federal Congress took the initiative in voting him honors, such as the senate of old Rome was wont to decree for their heroes and sages. That body was in session at Princeton, in the summer of 1783, when arrange- ments for the consummation of the declared peace with Great Britain was in progress, and "Washington, having been requested to make his head-quarters near, took post at Rocky Hill, a few miles off. Before his arrival, the Congress, on the 7th of August,
" Resolved (unanimously, ten states being present), That an equestrian statue of General Washington be erected at the place where the residence of Congress shall be established ;" and appointed Arthur Lee, Oliver Ellsworth, and Thomas Mifflin, a committee to propose a plan for the same.
The committee recommended a statue of bronze, the general to be represented in a Roman dress, holding a truncheon in his right hand, and his head encircled with a laurel wreath. The statue was to be supported by a marble pedestal, on which were to be represented — the evacuation of Boston, the cap- ture of the Hessians at Trenton, the battle of Princeton, the action of Monmouth, and the surrender of York. On the upper part of the pedestal was to be the following inscrip- tion :