From Farm House to the White House Part 15

"Was.h.i.+ngton was deeply affected. His head rested upon the shoulder of his parent, whose aged arm feebly, yet fondly, encircled his neck. That brow, on which fame had wreathed the purest laurel virtue ever gave to created man, relaxed from its lofty bearing. That look, which would have awed a Roman senate in its Fabrician day, was bent in filial tenderness upon the time-worn features of the aged matron. He wept. A thousand recollections crowded upon his mind, as memory, retracing scenes long pa.s.sed, carried him back to the maternal mansion and the days of juvenility, where he beheld that mother, whose care, education, and discipline caused him to reach the topmost height of laudable ambition.

Yet, how were his glories forgotten while he gazed upon her whom, wasted by time and malady, he should part with to meet no more!"

Was.h.i.+ngton never saw his mother again. She died Aug. 25, 1789. Her last days were characterized by that cheerful resignation to the divine will for which she was ever distinguished, and she pa.s.sed away in the triumphs of Christian faith.

Her remains were laid in the burial ground of Fredericksburg, in a spot which she selected, because it was situated near the place where she was wont to retire for meditation and prayer. For many years her grave was unmarked by slab or monument; but in 1833, Silas E. Barrows, Esq., of New York City, undertook the erection of a monument at his own expense.

On the seventh day of May of that year, President Jackson laid the corner-stone in the presence of a great concourse of people. It was estimated that more than fifteen thousand persons a.s.sembled to honor the dead.

The plan of the monument was pyramidical, and the height of the obelisk forty-five feet. A colossal bust of Was.h.i.+ngton adorned the shaft, surmounted by the American eagle sustaining a civic crown above the hero's head, and with the simple inscription:

MARY, THE MOTHER OF WAs.h.i.+NGTON.

From President Jackson's eulogy on the interesting occasion, we make the following brief extract:

"In the grave before us lie the remains of his mother. Long has it been unmarked by any monumental tablet, but not unhonored. You have undertaken the pious duty of erecting a column to her name, and of inscribing upon it the simple but affecting words, 'Mary, the Mother of Was.h.i.+ngton.' No eulogy could be higher, and it appeals to the heart of every American.... The mother and son are beyond the reach of human applause, but the bright example of paternal and filial excellence which their conduct furnishes cannot but produce the most salutary effects upon our countrymen. Let their example be before us from the first lesson which is taught the child, till the mother's duties yield to the course of preparation and action which nature prescribes for him....

"Fellow citizens, at your request, and in your name, I now deposit this plate in the spot destined for it; and when the American pilgrim shall, in after ages, come up to this high and holy place, and lay his hand upon this sacred column, may he recall the virtues of her who sleeps beneath, and depart with his affections purified and his piety strengthened, while he invokes blessings upon the mother of Was.h.i.+ngton."

John Adams wrote to his wife concerning a certain statesman: "In reading history, you will generally observe, when you find a great character, whether a general, a statesman, or a philosopher, some female about him, either in the character of a mother, wife, or sister, who has knowledge and ambition above the ordinary level of women; and that much of his eminence is owing to her precepts, example, or instigation in some shape or other."

This remark was remarkably ill.u.s.trated in the career of Was.h.i.+ngton. He always acknowledged his indebtedness to maternal influence. He could say, with John Quincy Adams, "Such as I have been, whatever it was; such as I am, whatever it is; and such as I hope to be in all futurity, must be ascribed, under Providence, to the precepts and example of my mother."

Historians and poets, statesmen and orators, have ever accorded to the mother of Was.h.i.+ngton a signal influence to determine his character and career. And so universal is this sentiment, that the American people consider that the n.o.blest tribute to her memory is the inscription upon her monument:

MARY, THE MOTHER OF WAs.h.i.+NGTON.

VII.

YOUNG SURVEYOR.

"George can make his home with me, now that his school-days are over,"

said Lawrence to his mother, anxious to keep his young brother in his own family at Mount Vernon.

"But I need him more than you do," objected Mrs. Was.h.i.+ngton; "you can hardly imagine how I miss him."

"So do we miss him when he is not here," responded Lawrence. "George is good company, as much so as a man of twenty-five years of age. I want very much that he should make his home with me."

"I thought he might be of service to me in running the farm, and, at the same time, pursue his studies by himself," continued Mrs. Was.h.i.+ngton.

"He can study better with me," suggested Lawrence, "because I can a.s.sist him as well as not."

"There is no doubt of that," replied the mother, "and that is the only reason I can see why he should make his home with you."

"There is one other reason, mother, and a good one, too."

"What is it?"

"He will have a better opportunity to get into business if he lives with me. I have much company, and just the cla.s.s of men to introduce a capable youth like George into some good pursuit."

"There is something in that," responded Mrs. Was.h.i.+ngton.

"There is much in it every way," added Lawrence. "George is now at an age when his plans for life should be forming. He is competent to occupy almost any position that offers, and I can be of real service to him in directing and advising him."

There is evidence to believe that Lawrence had not wholly abandoned the idea of introducing George into military life. He himself had become a man of influence in the State. He was a member of the House of Burgesses, and adjutant-general of his district; a gentleman of acknowledged ability and position. He saw in George the foreshadowing of a distinguished man. He had more exalted ideas than his mother of the boy's ability and promise. If he could have him in his family, he could a.s.sist him onward and upward, beyond what would be possible if he remained with his mother.

It was finally settled that George should take up his abode with Lawrence at Mount Vernon. We need not say that this decision was congenial to George. He was so strongly attached to Lawrence, and enjoyed being at Mount Vernon so much, that he found great delight in removing thither permanently. It proved to be a very important step in his career, as Lawrence prophesied it would be.

George had not pa.s.sed his sixteenth birthday. Though still a boy, his views and aims of life were those of a man. He pursued arithmetic and surveying under the direction of his brother, with reference to future manhood. Nor was that all.

One day Lawrence surprised him by the inquiry, "George, how would you like to take lessons in the manual exercise of Adjutant Muse?"

"I should like it," George replied.

"It may be of service to you at some future day," Lawrence continued.

"It will do you no harm, surely."

"I am ready for the lessons any time," added George. "I have always had a desire to know something in that line."

Adjutant Muse served with Lawrence in the war against the Spaniards in the West Indies, and he was a competent teacher of the manual exercise.

It was arranged that he should instruct George in the art.

Subsequently, also, Lawrence made arrangements with Monsieur Van Braam to instruct George in the _art of fencing_. He had an idea that dexterity in the use of his limbs, as well as fire-arms, would be of future use to him. These facts indicate that Lawrence did not expect that his young brother would become a farmer. There is traditional evidence that he stated as much to George, whose military aspirations were nurtured in the Mount Vernon home.

Adjutant Muse encouraged George to read certain treaties upon the art of war, which he offered to loan him. From these volumes he acquired considerable knowledge of the theory of tactics, and of the evolution of troops. No previous branch of study had enlisted his interest more thoroughly than did these works upon military tactics; and we may easily discover the design of Providence to prepare him in this way to act a conspicuous part in the achievement of American independence.

At Mount Vernon George met William Fairfax, whose daughter Lawrence married. He occupied a valuable estate of his cousin Lord Fairfax, at Belvoir, seven or eight miles from Mount Vernon. He was an English gentleman of culture and wealth, very much respected by all who knew him.

Mr. Fairfax became very much interested in George, regarding him as a youth of rare, manly virtues.

"He is a man already," he remarked to Lawrence; "very mature for one of his years."

"I think so," Lawrence answered, "and I hope the way will be opened for his n.o.blest development."

"He must visit us at Belvoir; I should delight to have him spend much time in my family," Mr. Fairfax added.

"And I should be pleased to have him," responded Lawrence. "He would derive great benefit from it."

"My sons and daughters would find him a very genial companion,"

continued Mr. Fairfax. "I think the benefit from the society of each other would be mutual."

In this way George was introduced to the Fairfax family, with whom he spent many of his happiest days and weeks. It was one of the most favorable incidents of his young life when he was welcomed to that family, for there he enjoyed society of culture, where character, and neither wealth nor honors, ranked highest. Just at that age he needed the influence of education and cultivated manners, and here he found both with the sons and daughters of Mr. Fairfax. Alternately, between this family at Belvoir and his brother's family at Mount Vernon, he enjoyed a discipline of social intercourse, better for him, in some respects, than even Mr. Williams's school.

At Belvoir George met Lord Fairfax, a relative of William Fairfax, recently from England. "He was the owner of immense domains in Virginia," says Mr. Everett. "He had inherited through his mother, the daughter of Lord Culpepper, the original grantee, a vast tract of land, originally including the entire territory between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers."