HIS WIFE AND HOME.

Washington renounced military life to claim his bride. He was married at the “White House” on the 6th of January, 1759, a few weeks before his twenty-seventh birthday. Mrs. Custis was three months younger than the bridegroom.

At seventeen years of age, Miss Martha Dandridge (for such was her maiden name) was a gay and beautiful belle, having many suitors, upon none of whom she looked favorably, except Colonel Daniel Parke Custis, son of Hon. John Custis of Arlington. To him she was married in 1749. Two sons and a daughter were the fruits of this marriage, the eldest of whom died a short time before his father. The biographer of Mr. Custis records an incident which furnishes a key to the character of this worthy and influential gentleman:

“A short time before his death, he sent for a tenant, to whom, in settling an account, he was due one shilling. The tenant begged that the colonel, who had ever been most kind to his tenantry, would not trouble himself at all about such a trifle, as he, the tenant, had forgotten it long ago. ‘But I have not,’ rejoined the just and conscientious landlord; and bidding his creditor take up the coin, which had been purposely placed on his pillow, exclaimed, ’Now my accounts are closed with this world!’ and shortly after expired.”

The loss of both husband and son was a terrible affliction to the youthful widow; yet her Christian hope sustained her wonderfully, so that she did not abandon herself to useless repinings. Her husband left her his large plantation, and from one to two hundred thousand dollars in money, the care of which, with her two surviving children, imposed new and unusual duties upon her. How well she met these responsibilities is told by her husband’s biographer, thus:

“Mrs. Custis, as sole executrix, managed the extensive landed and pecuniary concerns of the estates with surprising ability, making loans on mortgage of moneys, and, through her stewards and agents, conducting the sales or exportations of the crops to the best possible advantage.”

“Beautiful, gifted, with great fascination of manners, unusually accomplished, extremely wealthy, and youthful,” as another has said, it is not surprising that, when the usual period of seclusion and mourning had passed, her hand and heart were sought by other worthy men. It was not, however, until she providentially met Colonel Washington, in the manner we have described, that she was at all disposed to enter into another matrimonial alliance.

The wedding of Washington was a splendid affair conducted after the old English style that prevailed among wealthy planters. Military and civil officers with their wives, graced the occasion. Ladies appeared in the costliest brocades, laces, and jewels which the Old World could provide. The bride was arrayed in the height of English fashion, her wealth of charms a fit accompaniment to the manly beauty of the bridegroom, who stood six feet and three inches in his shoes, “The tallest and handsomest man of the Old Dominion.”

An old negro servant of Mrs. Custis expressed his views of his new master, as follows:

“Never seed the like, sir, never the like of him, though I have seen many in my day, so tall, so straight! And then, sir, 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.”

Washington resided at the “White House” three months before taking his seat in the House of Burgesses. That he had resolved to abandon a military career, and that his new relation afforded him unalloyed pleasure, is quite evident from what he wrote to a friend:

“I am now, I believe, fixed in this seat, with an agreeable partner for life; and I hope to find more happiness in retirement than I ever experienced in the wide and bustling world.”

From a child, Mrs. Washington had enjoyed the luxuries and society that wealth multiplies. Her own property, now united to that of her husband, amounted to a large fortune. She could live in princely style, although she adopted that style only so far as her social position demanded. There was an aristocratic element that ruled in Virginia at that time, embracing the wealthy, cultured, and ruling classes, to which she belonged; and to this standard of living she was obliged to conform. Her home was the resort of the wealthiest and most influential people of Virginia.

After three months had elapsed, Washington took his seat in the Legislature. That body arranged to honor the hero as soon as he appeared in the House, by a eulogistic address by the speaker. No sooner had he taken his seat, than the speaker, Mr. Robinson, immediately arose, and, commanding silence, addressed Washington in such language of praise as only true patriotism, united with personal friendship, could dictate; enlarging upon his heroic deeds for his country in its time of its greatest peril. As he closed, the whole Assembly rose to their feet, and saluted the young colonel with a bow.

Had an earthquake suddenly shaken the Capitol to its centre, Washington would not have been more completely surprised. He was confounded. He rose to make his acknowledgments, but, alas! his tongue had forgotten its office. Thrice he essayed to speak, and thrice, in spite of every effort, his utterance failed him, save faintly to articulate, “Mr. Speaker! Mr. Speaker!”

The speaker was equal to the occasion, and came to his relief in one of the best, quick-witted sallies on record.

“Colonel Washington,” he exclaimed, “sit down! sit down! Your modesty alone is equal to your merit.”

Soon after the adjournment of the Legislature, Washington removed his family to Mount Vernon, to devote himself to agricultural pursuits. For fifteen years he continued to abide there in domestic enjoyment. Every year of this fifteen he was elected to the House of Burgesses, where his counsels and great influence became indispensable. Still he was a farmer on a large scale, and devoted himself to the improvement of his estates, and the raising of wheat, corn, and tobacco. The landed estates of both himself and wife must have numbered more than twenty thousand acres, for his Mount Vernon estate alone amounted to over nine thousand acres. Then he owned large tracts of land outside, containing thousands of acres. Add to these extensive tracts the Custis estates, and we find him one of the largest landholders of North America.

A thousand persons were required to perform the labors of his domestic and agricultural establishments, including his negroes. The products of his plantations were shipped to his agent in England; and he came to enjoy such a reputation there as a successful and upright planter, that the usual custom-house inspection of all packages and goods marked “George Washington” was omitted. A record of his products before us for a single year shows that he raised ten thousand bushels of corn and seven thousand bushels of wheat. One hundred cows, with oxen, horses, and mules in that proportion, stocked his immense estate. His farming implements, carriages, and the nicer materials for clothing himself and family, were imported from England. With this exception, the linen and woollen cloths used were made by hand on his own plantation. Sixteen spinning-wheels were kept in operation.

Mrs. Washington took her position in this immense establishment as mistress, proving that her accomplishments and education under the influence of wealth did not make her vain and aristocratic. Unlike many planters’ wives of that day, she did not consider that labor was degrading. She was provided with all the servants necessary, but she relinquished to no one, however competent, the oversight of her household affairs. “Carrying her keys at her side, and making frequent visits to the various apartments connected with the elaborate arrangements of the table and its ‘aids and appliances,’ the spotless purity of her attire always remained unsullied by her active participation in the mysteries of each and all.” Neatness, order, and industry characterized her in the house, as they did her husband on the farm.

That great care and responsibility must have devolved upon Mrs. Washington, appears from Irving’s description of a Virginia estate.

“A large Virginia estate in those days was a little empire,” he says. “The mansion-house was the seat of government, with its numerous dependencies, such as kitchens, smoke-house, work-shops, and stables. In this mansion the planter moved supreme; his steward, or overseer, was his prime minister and executive officer; he had his legion of house negroes for domestic service, and his host of field negroes for the culture of tobacco, Indian corn, and other crops, and for other out-of-door labor. Their quarter formed a kind of hamlet apart, composed of various huts, with little gardens and poultry yards, all well stocked, and swarms of little negroes gambolling in the sunshine. Then there were large wooden edifices for curing tobacco, the staple and most profitable production, and mills for grinding wheat and Indian corn, of which large fields were cultivated for the supply of the family and the maintenance of the negroes.

At the same time that Mrs. Washington had to preside over the farm-house for the sake of the one thousand souls on the large estate, she was obliged to conduct her domestic affairs in a costly and fashionable way for the sake of her guests. Her wardrobe, furniture, and preparations for special occasions were necessarily elaborate and expensive, for her mansion was the resort of the most distinguished men and women of the country. Almost every day some civil or military gentleman of distinction was found at her table. Hence, much style and expense were required to maintain her hospitable board. A silver service was demanded by the times, the manners and customs of which were imported from England. All other appointments corresponded with this royal standard. Irving says that Washington’s “intimacy with the Fairfaxes and his intercourse with British officers of rank had their influence on his mode of living.”

Mrs. Washington had her chariot and four, with driver and black postilion in livery, more, perhaps, to entertain and honor her distinguished guests than for personal enjoyment. Her husband usually appeared on horseback. He loved horses, especially fine ones, and most of those in his stables were imported. To each he gave a name, suggested by some quality that attracted his observant eye, as Ajax, Blueskin, Valiant, Magnolia (Arabian), etc. Several noble dogs for fox-hunting were found about his house and stable Vulcan, Singer, Ringwood, Sweetlips, Forrester, Music, Rockwood and Truelove. With such preparations, an English baronet and his wife, Lord Fairfax, the wealthy fox-hunter, provincial governors and generals, or the ordinary farmer, could all be accommodated on the Mount Vernon estate.

An order sent to England in 1759 shows that Mrs. Washington’s wardrobe received particular attention:

“A salmon-colored Tabby (velvet), with satin flowers for sack
and coat.

“One cap, handkerchief and tucker and ruffles, to be made of
Brussels lace or Point, proper to be worn with the above; to
cost L20 (one hundred dollars).

Two fine flowered lawn aprons.

“Two pairs women’s white silk hose.

“Six pairs fine cotton do.

“Six pairs thread do., four threaded.

“One pair black and one pair white satin shoes of the smallest
fives.

“Four pairs Calimanco do.

“One fashionable hat or bonnet.

Six pairs womens best kid gloves.

Six pairs do. mits.

“One doz. round silk lace.

One doz. most fashionable cambric pocket hkcfs.

“Six lbs. perfumed powder.

“One piece narrow white satin ribbon, pearl edge.”

Fashion ruled with mighty power at that time, and Mrs. Washington was one of its votaries from necessity, if not from choice. Her husband, too, paid much attention to dress; nor was it the result of her influence. Before he became acquainted with her, in one of his orders sent to England appears the following:

“Two pairs fine worked ruffles, at 20s. per pair.

Two sets complete shoe brushes.

Six pairs thread hose at 5s.

“Enough superfine blue cotton velvet for coat, waistcoat, and
breeches, with fine silk buttons to match, and necessary
trimmings, with garters for the breeches.

“Six pairs of the very neatest shoes; two pairs double
chancelled pumps; two pairs turned ditto; and two pairs stitched
shoes; to be made by Didsberry, over Col. Beiler’s last.

“Six pairs gloves; three pairs for riding, with slit tops.

As if fearing that the claims of fashion might not be carefully regarded, he added, “If worked ruffles should be out of fashion, send such as are not.”

An order for an outfit for horse-back riding shows how much attention was paid to comfort and appearance at that time among the wealthy planters of Virginia:

“One man’s riding-saddle, hogskin seat, large-plated stirrups,
and everything complete; double-reined bridle and Pelham 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, holster, &c.

“A riding-frock of a 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.”

Mrs. Washington devoted herself to the education of her two children, six and four years of age at the time of her marriage with Washington. Had their own father been living, he could not have co-operated with their mother more cheerfully and tenderly than Washington did. Their father left a fortune to each of them, and that fact determined the character and methods of their training, agreeable to the custom of that day and locality. The following order for articles for the children is quite instructive as to the management of the Mount Vernon home:

“For Master Custis, 6 years old.”

One piece Irish Holland, at 4s.

Two yards fine cambric, at 10s.

“Six pocket handkerchiefs, small and fine.

Six pairs gloves.

Two laced hats.

“Two pieces India nankeen.

Six pairs fine thread stockings.

“Four pairs coarser do.

“Four pairs worsted do.

Four pairs strong shoes.

Four pairs pumps.

“One summer suit of clothes, to be made of some thing light and
thin.

Three fine ivory combs.

Two horn do. and two brushes.

“One piece black hair-ribbon.

One pair handsome silver shoe and knee buckles.

“Six little books for children beginning to read.

One light duffel cloak with silver frogs.

“10s. worth of toys.

“For Miss Custis, 4 years old.”

“Eight yards fine printed linen, at 3s 6d.

One piece Irish Holland, at 4s.

Two ells fine Holland, at 10s.

“Eight pairs kid mits.

Four pairs gloves.

Two pairs silk shoes.

“Four pairs Calimanco do.

Four pairs leather pumps.

Six pairs fine thread stockings.

“Four pairs worsted do.

“Half piece flowered dimity.

Two yards fine cambric, at 10s.

“Two caps, two pairs ruffles, two tuckers, bibs, and aprons, if
fashionable.

Two fans, two masks, two bonnets.

“Two m. minikins, one cloth cloak.

“One stiffened coat of fashionable silk, made to packthread
stays.

“Six yards ribbon.

Two necklaces.

“One pair silver sleeve buttons, with stone.

“One fashionable, dressed baby, 10s., and other toys, 10s.

“Six pocket handkerchiefs.

This insight into the early wedded life of Washington, a hundred and twenty years ago, upsets the notions of those people, in our day, who suppose that the sway of fashion belongs to modern times only.

Mrs. Washington was proverbially kind to her slaves, though not more so than her husband. They constituted a part of her family, for whom she had to provide both in health and sickness. This fact explains several entries in his journal concerning the quantity of provisions used. For example, one entry is, “Although we keep one hundred and one cows, we have to buy some butter.”

Among their slaves were all kinds of artificers carpenters, blacksmiths, shoemakers, tailors, wheel-wrights, and so forth. All these were indispensable on such an establishment, since a plantation must necessarily produce whatever ordinary use required. This arrangement imposed increased burdens upon the master of the plantation and the mistress of the house.

Mrs. Washington was as domestic in the house as her husband was practical on the farm. His journal shows that, unlike many of the large planters, he labored with his men on the plantation.

“Fitted a two-eyed plough instead of a duck-bill plough, and with much difficulty made my chariot wheel-horses plough. Put the pole-end horses into the plough in the morning, and put in the postilion and hind horses in the afternoon; but the ground being well swarded over, and very heavy ploughing, I repented putting them in at all, for fear it should give them a habit of stopping in the chariot.”

“Spent the greater part of the day in making a new plough of my own invention.”

“Bottled thirty-five dozen of cider.”

“Seven o’clock a messenger came to inform me that my mill was in great danger of being destroyed by the flood. I immediately hurried off all hands, with shovels, etc., to its assistance, and got there myself just time enough to give it a reprieve for this time, by wheeling gravel into the place the water had washed.”

“Surveyed some lines of my Mount Vernon tract of land.”

“Employed in running some lines between me and Mr. William Triplet.”

“Surveyed the water-courses of my Mount Vernon tract of land, taking advantage of the ice.”

“Laid out a road from Mount Vernon to the lane of Mr. Marley’s.

Irving says of Washington: “He was an early riser, often before day-break in the winter, when the nights were long. On such occasions he lit his own fire and wrote or read by candle-light. He breakfasted at seven in summer and eight in winter. Two small cups of tea and three or four cakes of Indian meal (called hoe-cakes) formed his frugal repast. Immediately after breakfast he mounted his horse, and visited those parts of the estate where any work was going on, seeing to everything with his own eyes, and often aiding with his own hands.

Soon after he introduced his wife to his Mount Vernon estate, he began to improve and adorn the grounds. He made lawns, laid out walks and avenues, set out a great number of ornamental trees, and planted orchards of fruit-trees. He posted himself as far as possible in the science of agriculture, and made many improvements upon his plantations, by reclaiming land and increasing the productive power of the soil.

Once he conceived the idea of reclaiming the Great Dismal Swamp, and actually explored it with reference to that ultimate purpose. Through his agency, the incorporated company known as the Dismal Swamp Company was organized. “This vast morass was about thirty miles long and ten miles wide, and its interior but little known” until Washington explored it, and found a lake six miles long and three miles wide near its centre.

The large number of guests at Mount Vernon, and Washington’s enjoyment in hunting, fishing, and visiting, particularly in winter time, when the cares of his plantation were less numerous, appear from his journal. In the month of January, 1770, are the following entries:

“2. Mr. Peake dined here.

“4. Went hunting with John Custis and Lund Washington. Started a
deer, and then a fox, but got neither.

“5. Went to Muddy Hole and Dogue Run. Took the dogs with me, but
found nothing. Warner Washington and Mr. Thurston came in the
evening.

“6. The two Col. Fairfaxes dined here, and Mr. R. Alexander and
the two gentlemen that came the day before.

“8. Went hunting with Mr. Alexander, J. Custis, and Lund
Washington. Killed a fox after three hours’ chase. Mr. Thurston
came in the afternoon.

“9. Went a ducking, but got nothing, the creek and rivers being
frozen. Robert Adam dined here.

“10. Went hunting on the Neck, and visited the plantation there,
and killed a fox after treeing it three times and chasing it
three hours.

“13. Dined at Belvoir with Mrs. Washington and Mr. and Miss
Custis.

“15. Went up to Alexandria, expecting court, but there was none.
[He was county judge.]

“20. Went hunting with Jackay Custis, and killed a fox after a
three hours’ chase.

“23. Went hunting after breakfast, and found a fox at Muddy Hole
and killed her. Mr. Temple and Mr. Robert Adam dined here.

“27. Went hunting; and after tracking a fox a good while, the
dogs raised a deer and ran out of the Neck with it, and did not
come home till the next day.

“28. Mr. Temple came here.

29. Dined at Belvoir with J. P. Custis.

“30. Went hunting, and having found a deer, it ran to the head
of the Neck before we could stop the dogs. Mr. Peake dined
here.”

In the following month, February, fox-hunting occupied nine days, and five days were given to surveying.

The laws of Virginia were very strict against interlopers on the Potomac. They were a great nuisance to the wealthy planters on its banks. Fishing and duck-hunting lured them thither. One day Mrs. Washington remarked to her husband, “I think that strangers are at the landing.”

“Are you sure they are strangers?”

“Yes, I think so,” Mrs. Washington answered. “Look and see.”

“They are strangers, surely,” responded Washington, after a critical look towards the landing. “An oysterman’s craft, I think.”

“What should an oysterman come to our landing for?”

“We shall find out before long, no doubt,” Washington replied.

It was at the landing where the family barge was tied up. The affluent planters kept beautiful barges, imported from England, for the use of their families. Washington had one, rowed by six negroes, wearing a kind of uniform of check shirts and black velvet caps.

They did find out very soon who the strangers were an oysterman and his crew. They were a drunken, noisy rabble, who disturbed the neighborhood with their yells and revelry.

“They must be sent away,” remarked Washington, as he hurried toward the landing. But they were not in a condition to listen to his counsels. They were in the defiant state of intoxication, and refused to evacuate. They declared themselves able and determined “to hold the fort.”

The hero of Monongahela was not to be defied in that way. He adopted immediate measures to drive the mob away, but was not successful. Finally, summoning his negroes, and organizing a campaign against them, he forced them to leave, though, Irving says, “It took a campaign of three days to expel these invaders from the premises.

At another time Washington was riding over his estate, when the report of a gun on the banks of the river, not far away, startled him. Turning his horse in the direction of the report, he soon discovered an interloper in a canoe, making havoc among the canvas-back ducks which were numerous on the river.

“Stranger,” he called.

The hunter looked up.

“By what authority are you trespassing upon these grounds?”

The only reply that Washington received was, the hunter aimed his gun at him as if to fire. But the owner of Mount Vernon had seen guns pointed at him before; and, nothing daunted, he dashed into the river, shouting, “Fire if you dare!”

Seizing the painter of the canoe, he drew it to the shore; then, springing from his horse, he wrested the gun from the hands of the astonished hunter.

“I am the proprietor of this estate,” he shouted, seizing the fellow by the nape of his neck and pulling him out of his canoe, “and we will see whose rights are to be regarded.”

The hunter begged for mercy, promising to quit the grounds and never more trespass upon them. Washington restored his gun to him, and allowed him to depart without further punishment.

Mr. and Mrs. Washington were active and influential members of the Episcopal Church. Irving says:

“The Episcopal Church predominated throughout the ‘Ancient Dominion,’ as it was termed. Each county was divided into parishes, as in England, each with its parochial church, its parsonage, and glebe. Washington was vestryman of two parishes, Fairfax and Truro. The parochial church of the former was at Alexandria, ten miles from Mount Vernon; of the latter, at Pohick, about seven miles. The church at Pohick was rebuilt on a plan of his own, and in a great measure at his expense. At one or other of these churches he attended every Sunday, when the weather and the roads permitted. His demeanor was reverential and devout. Mrs. Washington knelt during the prayers; he always stood, as was the custom at that time.”

One of Mrs. Washington’s biographers says of her:

“It is recorded of this devout Christian that never, during her life, whether in prosperity or adversity, did she omit that daily self-communion and self-examination, and those private devotional exercises, which would best prepare her for the self-control and self denial by which she was, for more than half a century, so eminently distinguished. It was her habit to retire to her own apartment every morning after breakfast, there to devote an hour to solitary prayer and meditation.”

Mount Vernon was a home of prayer, of course. The presence of guests, however distinguished, never modified the family devotions. These were among the essentials of good family government. In one of Washington’s orders sent to England is the following:

“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.”

The necessity of erecting a new house of worship was discussed in the vestry of Truro, and a vote in favor of the project was secured. On the location, the vestrymen were divided.

“The old site is the proper one,” said Mr. George Mason, whose residence was near the house of worship.

“Not at all central,” replied another.

“Yet not so far aside as to discommode any one,” responded Mason.

“I beg leave to dissent from Mr. Mason,” added a third. “The location is inconvenient for my family.”

“The sacred associations of the spot alone ought to keep the church there,” urged Mr. Mason. “For generations our house of worship has stood there, and the place is hallowed by the sepulchres of our fathers around it.”

The subject was discussed, pro and con, when Washington’s opinion was asked. Without reserve he remarked:

“I cannot agree with my friend Mason that the location does not sensibly inconvenience some members of the parish. I think it does, and that a more central locality can be found. Neither can I see the force of his argument derived from the contiguity of the grave-yard. Churches are erected for the living, and not for the dead. The ashes of the dead can be sacredly protected by a suitable enclosure.”

The vestry adjourned without deciding upon the location, and before the next meeting, Washington carefully surveyed the parish, and made a neat plan of the same, showing that the old location was far from the centre. Mr. Mason urged with more earnestness than before the claims of the old site. But when Washington took his plan of survey from his pocket, and gave ocular demonstration that the old location was at one side of the parish, the new location was adopted at once.

Rev. Lee Massey was rector of the church at that time, and he said of Washington:

“I never knew so constant an attendant on church as Washington. And his behavior in the house of God was ever so deeply reverential that it produced the happiest effects on my congregation, and greatly assisted me in my pulpit labors. No company ever kept him from church. I have often been at Mount Vernon on the Sabbath morning when his breakfast-table was filled with guests; but to him they furnished no pretext for neglecting his God and losing the satisfaction of setting a good example. For, instead of staying at home out of false complaisance to them, he used constantly to invite them to accompany him.”

Mrs. Washington’s daughter died in 1770, after a lingering and painful disease. It was a terrible blow to her; and how severe a blow it was to her husband may be learned from the following incident:

Coming into the room when his wife’s face was buried in her hands, convulsed with grief, he burst into tears, kneeled beside the bed, and poured out his soul in a most fervent prayer that God would yet spare the dear girl for the sake of her mother, and for Christ’s sake. She had already breathed her last a moment before he entered the room; but, in his great sympathy for his wife, and his own passionate grief, the fact was unrecognized, and he sought relief in prayer.

The son was between sixteen and seventeen years of age when the daughter died, and was beginning to be a very wayward boy. He was sent to an Episcopal school at Annapolis, Maryland, where he attended to fox-hunting and other amusements more than he did to his studies. He fell in love, also, with Eleanor Calvert, daughter of Benedict Calvert of Mount Airy, and he entered into a matrimonial engagement with her. Mrs. Washington was very much tried by the course of the young man, and, after canvassing the whole subject carefully with her husband, he addressed a letter to Miss Calvert’s father, which was a compliment alike to his head and heart. It was a very long letter, and we have space for brief extracts only:

MOUNT VERNON, April 3, 1773.

DEAR SIR, I am now set down to write to you on a subject of importance, and of no small embarrassment to me. My son-in-law and ward, Mr. Custis, has paid his addresses to your second daughter, and, having made some progress in her affections, has solicited her in marriage. How far a union of this sort may be agreeable to you, you best can tell; but I should think myself wanting in candor were I not to confess that Miss Nellys amiable qualities are acknowledged on all hands, and that an alliance with your family will be pleasing to his.

“This acknowledgment being made, you must permit me to add sir, that at this, or in any short time, his youth, inexperience, and unripened education, are, and will be, insuperable obstacles, in my opinion, to the completion of the marriage. As his guardian, I consider it my indispensable duty to endeavor to carry him through a regular course of education, and to guard his youth to a more advanced age, before an event on which his own peace and the happiness of another are to depend, takes place....

“If the affection which they have avowed for each other is fixed upon a solid basis, it will receive no diminution in the course of two or three years, in which time he may prosecute his studies, and thereby render himself more deserving of the lady and useful to society. If, unfortunately, as they are both young, there should be an abatement of affection on either side, or both, it had better precede, than follow, marriage.

“Delivering my sentiments thus freely will not, I hope, lead you into a belief that I am desirous of breaking off the match. To postpone it is all I have in view; for I shall recommend to the young gentleman, with the warmth that becomes a man of honor, to consider himself as much engaged to your daughter as if the indissoluble knot was tied; and, as the surest means of affecting this, to apply himself closely to his studies, by which he will, in a great measure, avoid those little flirtations with other young ladies, that may, by dividing the attention, contribute not a little to divide the affections.

The result of this correspondence was that Washington took young Custis to King’s (now Columbia) College, New York City, and entered him for two years. But love had so much more control of his heart than learning had of his head, that he remained there only a few months, when he returned to Mount Vernon, and was married to Miss Calvert on Fe, 1774. The couple were nineteen and seventeen years of age, respectively, and their marriage proved a very fortunate event for themselves, and the families on both sides.

The following incident, illustrative of Washington’s fine personal appearance, transpired when he accompanied his step-son to New York. It is from the pen of Mr. Custis:

“It was boasted at the table of the British governor that a regiment, just landed from England, contained among its officers some of the finest specimens of martial elegance in his Majesty’s service; in fact, the most superb-looking fellows ever landed upon the shores of the new World. ‘I wager your excellency a pair of gloves,’ said Mrs. Morris, an American lady, ’that I will show you a finer man in the procession to-morrow than your excellency can select from your famous regiment;’ ’Done, madam!’ replied the governor. The morrow came (the fourth of June), and the procession, in honor of the birthday of the king, advanced through Broadway to the strains of military music. As the troops filed before the governor, he pointed out to the lady several officers by name, claiming her admiration for their superior persons and brilliant equipments. In rear of the troops came a band of officers not on duty, colonial officers, and strangers of distinction. Immediately, on their approach, the attention of the governor was seen to be directed toward a tall and martial figure, that marched with grave and measured tread, apparently indifferent to the scene around him. The lady now archly observed, ’I perceive that your excellency’s eyes are turned to the right object; what say you to your wager now, sir?’ ’Lost, madam,’ replied the gallant governor; ’when I laid my wager I was not aware that Colonel Washington was in New York.’”

Washington kept his own books at the same time that he attended to the business of his vast estates. The same neatness, method, and accuracy characterized his accounts at Mount Vernon that characterized his writing books at Mr. Williams school. They were models.

When Mrs. Washington went to Mount Vernon to live, the mansion contained only four square rooms on the ground. In this condition it remained until the close of the Revolution.

During the Revolution she was wont to spend the winter with her husband in his winter quarters. The accommodations were always meagre. One of these winters he occupied a small frame house, unfurnished in the second story. The general could get along with the meagre comforts, but he desired better accommodations for his wife. So he sent for a young mechanic and fellow-apprentice.

“Mrs. Washington will tell you what she wants, and you will make the changes under her direction,” he said to them.

Soon Mrs. Washington was in their presence.

“Now, young men,” she said, “I care for nothing but comfort here, and should like you to fit me up a beaufet on one side of the room, and some shelves and places for hanging clothes on the other.”

The mechanic said afterwards that “every morning Mrs. Washington came up-stairs to see us; and after she and the general had dined, she always called us down to eat at her table. We worked very hard, nailing smooth boards over the rough and worm-eaten planks, and stopping the crevices in the walls made by time and hard usage. We studied to do everything to please so pleasant a lady, and to make some return in our humble way for the kindness of the general.”

When the work was completed, Mrs. Washington was surveying it, when the mechanic said, “Madam, we have endeavored to do the best we could. I hope we have suited you.”

“I am astonished,” Mrs. Washington replied. “Your work would do honor to an old master, and you are mere lads. I am not only satisfied, but highly gratified with what you have done for my comfort.”

She was accustomed to say, after the Revolution, “I heard the first cannon at the opening, and the last at the closing, of all the campaigns of the Revolutionary war.”

She survived her husband by two years. As death drew near, with mind clear and heart staid on God, she awaited the final summons with calmness and sweet resignation. She called her grandchildren to her bedside, “discoursed to them of their respective duties, spoke of the happy influence of religion, and then triumphantly resigned her spirit into the hands of her Saviour,” and expired.

Mount Vernon is now in a good state of preservation. A national association of women have charge of the place, that it may be kept in repair, and the relics furniture, pictures, account books, library, etc. be preserved for coming generations to see.