Having done all that a brave and prudent man could for his country's
welfare, Col. Washington now lost no time, you may depend upon it, in
doing what every wise and prudent man should for his own: by which you
are to understand, that on the sixth day of January, 1759, when he
wanted but a few weeks of completing his twenty-seventh year, he was
joined in the holy bonds of marriage with Mrs. Martha Custis, the
blooming and lovely young widow, and mother of the two interesting
little children,--to all of whom you had a slight introduction a short
time ago.
The nuptials were celebrated at the White House, the home of the
bride, in the presence of a goodly company of stately dames and fine
old gentlemen, fair maidens and handsome youth,--the kith and kin and
loving friends of the wedded pair. Had some belated traveller been
overtaken by the little hours of that night, as he chanced to pass
that way, he might have guessed, from the soft, warm light that shone
from all of the many windows, and sounds of sweet music that came
through the open doors, mingled with peals of joyous laughter, and the
light tripping of numerous feet in the merry dance, that it must be a
much-beloved and fortunate couple indeed that could draw together so
happy and brilliant a throng under that hospitable roof. Had this same
belated traveller wanted further proof of this, he had but to turn a
little aside, and take a peep into the negro quarters, where he would
have seen the colored folks in a jubilee over the grand occasion, and,
to all appearances, quite as jolly as if the wedding had been an
affair of their own getting-up, and in which each son and daughter of
ebony had a personal interest. He would have seen them feasting on the
abundant leavings that came down from the great house, till their
faces shone again; and dancing to the music of Bishop Braddock's
fiddle in a fashion all their own, and nobody's else.
First and foremost among these, with his wool combed the highest, his
breeches the reddest, and manners the genteelest, might have been
spied Black Jerry (who, when a negroling, had been saved from a
thrashing by little George, as you well remember), showing off his
heels to the envy of all male and the admiration of all female
beholders. This last, it is but fair to say, is merely a fancy sketch
of your Uncle Juvinell's, conjured up by recollections of certain long
talks he often had, when a boy, with Black Jerry himself, at that time
a very old negro of most excellent morals, who never failed, when his
honored master's name was mentioned, to show his yellow ivory, and,
for very respect, uncover his head, the wool of which was then as
white as a Merino ram's.
This joyous event having passed thus happily off, Col. Washington, a
short time after, repaired to Williamsburg to take his seat in the
Virginia Legislature, or House of Burgesses as it was then called, to
which he had been elected while absent on the last campaign; without,
however, any particular desire or effort on his part, but by that of
his numerous friends. Hardly had his name been enrolled as a member of
that honorable body, when Mr. Robinson, Speaker of the House, by
previous agreement arose and addressed him in a short but eloquent
speech; thanking him, in the name of the rest, for the many and
valuable services he had rendered his country during the past five
years, and setting forth the gratitude and esteem with which he was
regarded by his fellow-countrymen. Surprised out of his usual
composure and self-possession by the honor thus unexpectedly done him,
Washington, upon rising to thank the House, could only blush, stammer,
and stand trembling, without the power to utter a single word. Seeing
his painful embarrassment, Mr. Robinson hastened to his relief by
saying with a courteous smile, "Sit down, Mr. Washington: your modesty
equals your valor; and that surpasses the power of any language I
possess." From that time till near the breaking-cut of the
Revolution,--a period of fifteen years, he remained an active and
influential member of this body; being returned from year to year by
the united voice of the good people whose district he represented.
Always thorough in whatever he undertook, he rested not until he had
made himself muster of every point and question touching the duties of
his new office; and, for method, promptness, prudence, and sagacity,
soon proved himself quite as good a civilian as he had been a soldier.
Early in the following spring, his first session ended, he betook
himself to the sweet retirement of Mount Vernon; where, cheered by the
company of his beautiful young wife and her interesting little
children, he once more resumed those peaceful pursuits and innocent
amusements to which he had looked forward with such bright
anticipations amidst the perils and hardships of a soldier's life.
War, as war, had already, young and ardent as he was, lost for him its
charms; and he had learned to look upon it as a hard and terrible
necessity, ever to be avoided, except in cases where the safety of his
country should demand it as a last desperate remedy. Unlike most men
of a bold and adventurous disposition, he all his life long took the
greatest pleasure in the pursuits of a husbandman; and, to his manner
of thinking, there was no lot or calling in life so happy, and none
more honorable. Having now ample time for the indulgence of his
tastes, he set about improving and beautifying his plantations, of
which he had several, in the most approved style of that day. He
planted orchards of various fruits; set his hillsides in grass;
drained his marshes, and turned them into rich meadow-lands; built
mills and blacksmith-shops; enlarged his family mansion to a size
better befitting his elegant and hospitable style of living; adorned
the grounds about it with shrubbery, trees, and gardens; and converted
the wild woods hard by into open and verdant parks. To his negro
slaves he was the kindest of masters; ever mindful of their comfort,
and extremely careful of them in sickness. Being of industrious habits
himself, he would not make the least grain of allowance for sloth or
idleness in them, or indeed in any one about him, but was strict in
exacting of them the speedy and full performance of their allotted
tasks; which, however, he always took care should come under rather
than up to the measure of their strength. In his business habits, he
was methodical to a nicety; kept his own books, and was his own
overseer: for, having a strong aversion to being waited on, he never
suffered others to do for him what he could do for himself. He kept a
close and clear account, in writing, of the profits arising from the
grain, tobacco, and other produce of his lands; and also the amount of
his personal, household, and plantation expenses: by which means he
could tell at a glance whether he were on the making or losing order,
and readily detect whether any of whom he had dealings were given to
careless or dishonest practices. So superior was the quality of every
thing produced on his estate, and so widely known did he become for
his honesty and uprightness in all business transactions, that, in
time, a box of tobacco or a barrel of flour marked "George Washington,
Mount Vernon, Va.," would be received into many foreign ports without
the custom-house authorities opening or inspecting it.
He was an early riser. In winter, getting up before day, and lighting
his own fire, he wrote or read two or three hours by candle-light.
After a frugal breakfast of two small cups of tea and four small cakes
of Indian meal, he mounted his horse, and rode about his plantations;
seeing to every thing with his own eye, and often lending a helping
hand. This duty done, he returned to the house at noon, and dined
heartily, as well beseemed the active, robust man that he was, yet
never exceeding the bounds of temperance and moderation both as to
eating and drinking. His afternoons he usually devoted to the
entertainment of his numerous guests, who thronged his hospitable
mansion almost daily, and, if from a distance, abiding there for weeks
together. After a supper frugal as his breakfast, if there was no
company in the house, he would read aloud to his family from some
instructive and entertaining book, or from the newspapers of the day;
and then, at an early hour, retire to his room for the night.
Fish and game abounded in the woods and streams of his domain, as well
as in those of the adjoining plantations; and he was thus enabled to
indulge his fondness for angling and hunting to the utmost, whenever
he felt so inclined. Two or three times a week, the shrill winding of
the hunter's horn and the deep-mouthed baying of the fox-hounds would
ring out on the clear morning air; when he might be seen at the head
of a brilliant company of mounted hunters, dashing over the fields,
across the streams, and through the woods, hot on the heels of some
unlucky Reynard. I should not say unlucky, however; for although
Washington was as bold and skilful a rider as could be found in
thirteen provinces, and kept the finest of horses and finest of dogs,
yet, for all that, he could seldom boast of any great success as a
fox-hunter. But having the happy knack of making the best and most of
every thing, be it toward or untoward, he always consoled himself with
the reflection, that, if they had failed to catch their fox, they at
least had their sport and a deal of healthful exercise; which, after
all, should be the only object of fox-hunting. On such occasions, he
was either joined by the neighboring gentry, or by such guests as
chanced at the time to be enjoying the hospitalities of Mount Vernon.
Among these, it was not unusual to find old Lord Fairfax, the friend
and companion of his stripling days, who would come down from Greenway
Court several times a year, with a long train of hunters and hounds,
and by his presence double the mirth and cheer of all the country-side
for miles and miles around. The fate of poor Reynard being duly
settled, they would repair either to Mount Vernon, or to the residence
of any one else of the party that chanced to be nearest, and wind up
the sports of the day by a hunting-dinner, at which they were usually
favored with the company of the ladies. At such times, Washington is
said to have entered so keenly into the general hilarity, as to quite
lay aside his accustomed gravity and reserve, and show himself almost
as jovial as the merry old lord himself. Speaking of these amusements,
brings to mind an anecdote of him, which I must tell you, as it will
give you a still more lively idea of the promptness and decision with
which he was wont to act whenever occasion demanded.
In those old-fashioned times, among many other laws that would seem
odd enough to us at the present day, there were many very strict and
severe ones for the protection of game, which made poaching (that is
to say, hunting on private grounds without leave or license from the
owner) no less a crime than theft, and punished the poacher as a thief
accordingly. Now, there was a certain idle, worthless fellow,
notorious for his desperate character, as being the most daring
poacher in seven counties, who was known to be much in the habit of
trespassing on the grounds belonging to Mount Vernon. This had been
forbidden him by Washington, who had warned him of the consequences if
he did not cease his depredations, and keep at a safe distance; but to
this the sturdy vagrant gave little heed. He would cross over the
river in a canoe, which he would hide, in some secret nook best known
to himself, among the reeds and rushes that fringed the banks, and
with his fowling-piece make ruinous havoc among the canvas-back ducks
that flocked in great multitudes to the low marsh-lands of that
region.
[Illustration]
One day, as Washington was going his accustomed rounds about the
plantations, he heard the report of a gun in the neighborhood of the
river; and, guessing what was in the wind, he forthwith spurred his
horse in that direction, and, dashing through the bushes, came upon
the culprit, just as he, paddle in hand, was pushing from the shore.
The fellow, seeing his danger, cocked his gun, and, with a threatening
look, levelled it directly at Washington, who, without heeding this in
the least, rode into the water, and, seizing the canoe by the painter,
dragged it ashore. Leaping then from his horse, he wrenched the
fowling-piece from the astonished poacher, and fell to belaboring him
in so clean and handsome a manner, as to make the unlucky wight
heartily wish he had the wide Potomac between him and the terrible man
whose iron grasp was then on his collar. My word for it, he never
trespassed again on those forbidden grounds; and I dare be sworn, he
never saw or ate or smelt a canvas-back thereafter, without feeling a
lively smarting up and down under his jacket, and, it may be, his
buckskin breeches too. It was not that a few dozen or even a hundred
ducks had been shot on his premises, that Washington was thus moved to
chastise this fellow; but that, in spite of wholesome warnings, he
should go on breaking the laws of the land with such impunity; and
also, that, instead of seeking to earn an honest livelihood by the
labor of his hands, he should prefer rather to live in idleness, and
gain a bare subsistence by such paltry and unlawful means.
Although verging on to middle age, Washington was still very fond of
active and manly sports, such as tossing the bar and throwing the
sledge, wrestling, running, and jumping; in all of which he had but
few equals, and no superiors. Among other stories of his strength and
agility, there is one which you may come across some day in the course
of your reading, relating how that, at a leaping-match, he cleared
twenty-two feet seven inches of dead level turf at a single bound.
Notwithstanding his modesty and reserve, he took much pleasure in
society, and ever sought to keep up a free and social interchange of
visits between his family and those of his neighbors. Besides their
fine horses and elegant carriages, he, and others of the old Virginia
gentry of that day whose plantations lay along the Potomac, kept their
own barges or pleasure-boats, which were finished and fitted up in a
sumptuous style, and were sometimes rowed by as many as six negro men,
all in neat uniforms. In these, they, with their wives and children,
would visit each other up and down the river; and often, after
lengthening out their calls far into the night, would row home by the
light of the moon, which, lending charms that the sun had not to the
tranquil flow of the winding stream, and to the waving woods that
crowned the banks on either hand, caused them often to linger, as
loath to quit the enchanting scene. A few weeks of the winter months
were usually spent by Mr. and Mrs. Washington either at Williamsburg
or at Annapolis, then, as now, the capital of Maryland, where was to
be found the best society of the provinces, and of which they were the
pride and ornament. Here they entered into the gayeties of the season,
such as dinners and balls, with much real relish; and, if the theatre
added its attractions to the rest, Washington always made it a point
to attend, as the entertainments there offered were of the sort that
afforded him much delight. Nor was he loath to join in the dance; and
your Uncle Juvinell, when a boy, had the rare fortune of meeting, now
and then, with stately old dames, who had been belles in their days,
and could boast of having had him for a partner; but, at the same
time, they were wont to confess, that they were generally too much
overawed by the gravity and dignity of his demeanor to feel entirely
at their ease in his company, however flattered they may have been at
the honor, which he, in his modesty, so little dreamed he was doing
them.
Washington's marriage was never blessed with children; but he was all
that a father could be to those of Mrs. Washington, whom he loved and
cherished as tenderly as if they had been his own. As their guardian,
he had the care of their education, and also the entire control of the
immense fortune, amounting, in negroes, land, and money, to nearly two
hundred thousand dollars, left them by their father, Mr. George
Custis; and lovingly and faithfully did he discharge this sacred and
delicate trust. Of these two children, the daughter (who was the
younger of the two) died, in early maidenhood, of consumption. She had
been of a slender constitution from her childhood; but, for all that,
her death was an unexpected stroke, and was long and deeply mourned by
Mrs. Washington and her husband. He is said to have been absent during
her illness; but, returning a short time before she breathed her last,
was so overcome with pity and tenderness upon seeing the sad change
wrought in so brief a space by this dreadful disease in her fair young
face and delicate form, that he threw himself upon his knees by her
bedside, and, in a passionate burst of grief, poured out a fervent
prayer for her recovery. The son now became the sole object of
parental love and solicitude; and being, like his sister, of frail and
uncertain health, was a source of much affectionate anxiety to his
step-father as well as to his mother.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Washington were members of the Episcopal Church, and
persons of the truest Christian piety. Every sabbath, when the roads
and weather permitted, they attended divine worship either at
Alexandria or at a church in their own neighborhood, and always took
part in the religious exercises of the day with earnest and solemn
devotion. In addition to the many charms of mind and person already
mentioned, Mrs. Washington was a woman of great benevolence, and spent
much of her time in acts of kindness and charity, which won her the
love and gratitude of every poor family in the country around.
Thus passed away fifteen tranquil years,--the white days of
Washington's life. When we behold him as he was then, in the full
strength and beauty of his ripened manhood, possessed of one of
the handsomest fortunes in America, living in the bountiful and
elegant style of those hospitable times, the pride and honor of
his native province, the object of applause and gratitude to his
fellow-countrymen, and of esteem and love to all whose privilege it
was to call him friend; and, above all, blessed, in the partner of his
choice, with a woman gifted with every grace and virtue that can adorn
her sex,--when we behold him thus, well may we exclaim, "Verily, here
was a man favored of Heaven in a special manner, and blessed beyond
the lot of common mortals here below." But the clouds were gathering,
and had long been gathering, that were soon to burst in storm and
tempest over that happy and rising young land, and force him for
many, many weary years from those, his loved retreats and peaceful
pursuits, upon a wider, nobler field of action, wherein he was to play
a part that should, in fine, win for him the name so dear to every
American heart,--Father of his Country.