After the close of the French and Indian war, Washington, then in his
twenty-seventh year, married Mrs. Martha Custis, and settled down to a
Virginia planter's life at Mount Vernon. His neighbors elected him again
and again to the House of Burgesses of the colony--a body much like one
of our State Legislatures. Here he did not talk much, but he kept close
watch of matters, and knew, as nearly as he could, all the facts that
were needed to make up his mind, so that he had a good deal of weight
with other members, and yet was very modest. When he first took his seat
in the House, the Speaker was directed to thank him, in the name of the
people, for his great services as an officer. This the Speaker did in
glowing terms, quite unexpectedly to Washington. Washington rose to
reply. His face flushed; he struggled to speak; but could only stammer,
and stood speechless and trembling. "Sit down, Mr. Washington," said the
Speaker, with a smile. "Your modesty equals your valor, and that
surpasses the power of any language that I possess."
After Washington had been some ten years at Mount Vernon, looking
forward to the peaceful and easy life of a wealthy farmer, certain
things happened which seemed then of small account, but which were to
lead to a great change in his career. The government of Great Britain
undertook to raise money in America for use on the other side of the
ocean. This government was made up of the King and the Parliament, and
the Parliament was for the most part chosen by the people of England.
The people of America were not allowed to choose any of its members, and
when the British government declared that the Americans must raise money
for it, the Americans had no one to vote for them or speak for them on
that question. They thought that this was not fair. They were willing to
pay the expenses of their own governments, because they had some voice
in them, but they would not help pay the expenses of the British
government, in which they had no voice.
The British government passed an act which said that every written
promise to pay money must be upon stamped paper, which could only be got
by buying it from British officers. If the promise was not on this kind
of paper, the man who signed it need not pay. The British thought this
would bring in a good deal of money. But the Americans would not use the
stamped paper. They seized that which was sent over, and burned it.
Other kinds of taxes were tried, but the Americans would pay none of
them. Washington took the side of his countrymen with great zeal. He
wrote to a friend: "I think the Parliament of Great Britain have no more
right to put their hands into my pocket, without my consent, than I have
to put my hands into yours." But the British government insisted, and
sent over troops to Boston to try and force the people to submit.
Washington was one of a number who proposed that a Congress, or great
meeting, should be called to arrange for resisting the taxes, and he
was chosen to go to the Congress, which was held at Philadelphia in
September, 1774. Meanwhile more soldiers were sent over. An attempt was
made on the 19th of April, 1775, to seize some powder which the
Americans had at Concord, near Boston, and the result was the battle of
Lexington, where a good many Americans were killed, but where the
British soldiers were finally driven back. Large numbers of men took
their guns and gathered at Boston to watch the British troops, and keep
them in the city. They came from Massachusetts and the other colonies
called New England--from Connecticut and Rhode Island, and from New
Hampshire and Maine.
The Congress came together again in May, 1775, and Washington was also
there. The battle of Lexington had been heard of, and the people were
everywhere angry and excited.
[Illustration: WASHINGTON TAKES COMMAND OF THE ARMY.]
The Congress resolved to resist all attempts by the British to force the
country to submit. It called for troops and guns and powder from the
various colonies. It adopted the soldiers around Boston as a part of the
"Continental Army," or the army of the whole country; it chose
Washington as commander-in-chief, to have the direction of all the
soldiers. When this was made known to him, he thanked Congress for the
honor, but he added, "I beg it may be remembered by every gentleman in
this room that I this day declare with the utmost sincerity I do not
think myself equal to the command I am honored with." He also refused to
take any pay for his services. "I will keep an exact account of my
expenses," he said. "These, I doubt not, Congress will discharge, and
that is all I desire." Washington hastened to Boston, learning of the
battle of Bunker Hill on the way. He found some seventeen thousand men
around Boston, and took command of them on the 3d of July, under a great
elm-tree, on the common in the village of Cambridge. He was then
forty-three years old, and a very tall and fine-looking man. His
features were large, his eyes were of a pure blue, usually grave, but
full of kindness, and at times very merry. His manners were gentle, but
full of dignity, and they often seemed very cold to those not well
acquainted with him, though at heart he was not cold.
[TO BE CONTINUED.]
[Illustration]
PUCK AND BLOSSOM.
From the German of Marie von Olfers.