238 



WASHINGTON'S LETTERS. 



agent whom he had well grounded in his 

 own system of practice, and who could no 

 doubt have continued that practice with 

 success, he never lost sight for a moment 

 amid all the pressing cares of public life, 

 of his rural home, or his favorite occupation. 

 We can scarcely give a better idea of the 

 man and his system, than by the following 

 extract, touching this very portion of his life, 

 from Sparks' admirable biography : 



" With his chief manager at Mount Ver- 

 non, he left full and minute directions in 

 writing, and exacted from him a weekly 

 report, in which were registered the tran- 

 sactions of each day on all the farms, 

 such as the number of laborers employed, 

 their health or sickness, the kind and 

 quantity of work executed, the progress in 

 planting, sowing or harvesting the fields, 

 the appearance of the crops at various sta- 

 ges of their growth, the effects of the wea- 

 ther on them, and the condition of the 

 horses, cattle and other live stock. By 

 these details, he was made perfectly ac- 

 quainted with all that was done, and could 

 give his orders with almost as much preci- 

 sion as if he had been on the spot. Once 

 a week, regularly, and sometimes twice, he 

 wrote to the manager, remarking on his 

 report of the preceding week, and giving 

 new directions. These letters frequently 

 extended to two or three sheets, and were 

 always written with his own hand. Such 

 was his laborious exactness, that the letter 

 he sent away was usually transcribed from 

 a rough draft, and a press copy was taken 

 of the transcript, which was carefully filed 

 away with the manager's report, for his 

 future inspection. In this habit, he perse- 

 vered with unabated diligence, through the 

 whole eight years of his Presidency, ex- 

 cept during the short visits he occasionally 

 made to Mount Vernon, at the close of the 



sessions of Congress, when his presence 

 could be dispensed with at the seat of gov- 

 ernment. He, moreover, maintained a 

 large correspondence on Agriculture with 

 gentlemen in Europe and America. His 

 letters to Sir John Sinclair, Arthur Young 

 and Dr. Anderson, have been published, 

 and are well known. Indeed his thoughts 

 never seemed to flow more freely, 7ior his -pen 

 move more easily, than when he was writing on 

 Agriculture, extolling it as a most attractive 

 •pursuit, and describing the pleasure he de- 

 rived from it, and its superior claims not 

 only on the practical economist, but 07i the 

 statesman and philanthropist ^ 



The volume before us, which Mr. Knight 

 has given to the public, in a very handsome 

 quarto form, consists mainly of the corres- 

 pondence referred to in the preceding quo- 

 tation. The letters to Sir John Sinclair 

 are rendered more interesting by their be- 

 ing facsimiles, showing the fine bold hand- 

 writing of their illustrious author. Besides 

 there is some very interesting collateral 

 correspondence by Jefferson, Peters, and 

 others, throwing additional light on the hus- 

 bandry of that period. Engraved portraits 

 of General and Mrs. Washington, views 

 of the mansion at Mount Vernon, a map of 

 the farms, etc., render the volume more 

 complete and elegant. 



It is not as conveying instruction to the 

 intelligent agriculturist of the present day, 

 that we commend this work ; for the art and 

 science of farming have made extraordinary 

 progress since this early era in the history 

 of our country. But it is as revealing a 

 most interesting and little known portion 

 of Washington's life and character, in 

 which his own tastes were more peculiarly 

 gratified, and in which he was no less suc- 

 cessful, than in any other phase of his won- 

 derfully great and pure life. 



