WASHINGTON 



0202 



WASHINGTON 



ton, who rallied the defeated British soldiers, 

 and drew them from the field. Washington it 

 was who laid Braddock in the grave four days 

 after the battle, and read over the open grave 

 the solemn burial service of the Church of 

 England. For the next three years Washing- 

 ton commanded all the Virginia forces. What 

 he did may be described in his own words: 



I have been posted, then, for more than twenty 

 months past, upon our cold and barren frontiers, 

 to perform, I think I may say. impossibilities ; 

 that is, to protect from the cruel incursions of a 

 crafty, savage enemy a line of inhabitants, of 

 more than 350 miles in extent, with a force inade- 

 quate to the task. 



For a year after he wrote this letter he con- 

 tinued to serve, in spite of many difficulties in 

 front and much narrowness and stupidity behind 



'V.v 



Washington's a watchword, such as ne'er 

 Shall sink while there's an echo left to air. 

 BYRON : Age of Bronze. 



him. In 1758, however, his health gave way, 

 and he resigned his command and withdrew to 

 Mount Vernon. Later in the year, however, 

 after Pitt took the helm in England, Washing- 

 ton had the satisfaction of accompanying the 

 British force which entered the burning ruins of 

 Fort Duquesne. The fort was renamed Fort 

 Pitt, and on its site stands the city of Pitts- 

 burgh. 



The Master of Mount Vernon. Through the 

 death of his half brother Lawrence's daughter, 



Washington became the owner of the estate of 

 Mount Vernon. To these lands he added large 

 tracts by his marriage to Mrs. Martha Dand- 

 ridge Custis, a charming young widow, pretty. 

 intelligent and wealthy. Just twenty-seven 

 when he married, life must have looked very 

 pleasant to him. Already one of the most dis- 

 tinguished men in the colonies, he was now 

 happily married and in the possession of con- 

 siderable wealth, so that the financial strain 

 which had often distressed him was now re- 

 lieved. His neighbors testified to their good 

 opinion of him by electing him to the house of 

 burgesses. He made his home at Mount Ver- 

 non, to which he added many acres, and by 

 careful management made it one of the best 

 plantations in the colonies. "He loved country 

 life, the fresh, open-air existence in woods and 

 fields. He always had superb horses and 

 hounds, and in season he hunted almost every 

 day. 



Mount Vernon during hunting season was 

 filled with guests, for Washington, always re- 

 served and silent as to himself and his own 

 thoughts, nevertheless liked a houseful of peo- 

 ple about him. On those rare occasions when 

 the family dined alone, the event was suffi- 

 ciently out-of-ordinary to call for a special 

 note in his diary. All in all, it was a whole- 

 some, many-sided life. He was active in the 

 church vestry and in the house of burgesses. 

 It was a life which would have made some men 

 rusty and useless, but it merely ripened Wash- 

 ington and kept him on a fine edge. He re- 

 mained athletic and enduring, and his mind, 

 like his body, was fresh and keen. 



During the critical decade beginning in 1765 

 Washington said little in public, but he thought 

 much. It was characteristic of him that he in- 

 troduced into the house of burgesses the first 

 nonimportation resolution. Virginia as a whole 

 did not live up to the resolution for many 

 months, but Washington would not allow tea 

 or any of the forbidden articles in his house. 

 For a long time Washington held aloof from 

 the extreme partisans of both sides, because he 

 felt that armed resistance on the part of the 

 colonies should be only the last resort. He 

 remained to the very last on friendly terms 

 with Lord Dunmore, the royal gpvernor, and 

 he dined with the governor and Lady Dunmore 

 on the very night before the Boston Port Bill 

 went into effect. That day, June 1, 1774, was 

 appointed by the Committees of Correspond- 

 ence as a day of fasting and prayer. On May 

 31 Washington dined with the Dunmores, but 



