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diff --git a/27012.txt b/27012.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f64bded --- /dev/null +++ b/27012.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7965 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Farmer Boy, and How He Became +Commander-In-Chief, by Morrison Heady + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Farmer Boy, and How He Became Commander-In-Chief + +Author: Morrison Heady + +Editor: William M. Thayer + +Release Date: October 24, 2008 [EBook #27012] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FARMER BOY *** + + + + +Produced by David Garcia, Karen Dalrymple, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Kentuckiana Digital Library.) + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + + +[Illustration] + + +[Illustration: The Farmer Boy + +BOSTON + +WALKER WISE & Co.] + + + THE + FARMER BOY, + AND + HOW HE BECAME COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. + + + BY UNCLE JUVINELL. + + + EDITED BY + WILLIAM M. THAYER, + AUTHOR OF "THE PIONEER BOY," ETC. + + + SEVENTH THOUSAND. + + + BOSTON: + WALKER, WISE, AND COMPANY, + 245, WASHINGTON STREET. + 1864. + + + Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by + WALKER, WISE, AND COMPANY, + In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District + of Massachusetts + + + BOSTON: + STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY JOHN WILSON AND SON. + No. 5, Water Street. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +BY REV. WILLIAM M. THAYER. + + +The reader will remember, that, in the preface of "THE PRINTER BOY," I +promised the next volume should be "THE FARMER BOY; OR, HOW GEORGE +WASHINGTON BECAME PRESIDENT." That pledge has never been redeemed, +though some labor has been performed with reference to it. And now +Providence seems to direct the fulfilment of the promise by the pen of +another, soon to be well known, I doubt not, to thousands of young +readers;--"Uncle Juvinell." + +The advance sheets of a volume from his pen, upon the early life of +Washington, have been placed in my hands for examination. I have +carefully perused the work, and find it to be of so high a character, +and so well adapted to the exigencies of the times, that I voluntarily +abandon the idea of preparing the proposed volume myself, and most +cordially recommend this work to the youth of our beloved land. I take +this step with all the more readiness, when I learn that the author +has persevered in his labors, though totally blind and almost deaf; +and I gladly transfer the title which I proposed to give my own book +to his excellent work, well satisfied that the act will prove a public +benefit. + +The reader will find that Mr. Heady (Uncle Juvinell) has produced a +very entertaining and instructive volume. It is written in a racy, +sprightly style, that cannot fail to captivate the mind. Partaking +himself of the buoyancy and good humor of boyhood, the author is able +to write for the boys in a manner that is at once attractive and +profitable. He has written a live book of one, who, "though dead, yet +speaketh." It is replete with facts, and lessons of wisdom. The +virtues are taught both by precept and example, and the vices are held +up in all their deformity to warn and save. Religion, too, receives +its just tribute, and wears the crown of glory. + +The appearance of this volume is timely. Adapted as it is to magnify +the patriotic virtues, and the priceless worth of the government under +which we live, it will prove a valuable contribution to the juvenile +literature of the land. In this period of mighty struggles and issues, +when our nation is groaning and travailing in pain to bring forth a +future of surpassing renown and grandeur, it is important to inspire +the hearts of American youth by the noblest examples of patriotism and +virtue. And such is WASHINGTON, the "Father of his Country." It is +best that the young of this battling age should study his character +and emulate his deeds. His life was the richest legacy that he could +leave to unborn generations, save the glorious Republic that he +founded; and well will it be for the youth of our country when that +life becomes to them the stimulus to exalted aims. Then loyalty will +be free as air, and rebellions be unknown; then treason will hide its +hydra-head, and our insulted flag wave in triumph where the last chain +of slavery is broken. + +This volume will do its part to hasten this consummation of our +patriot-hopes. Over its pleasant pages, then, we extend the right hand +of fellowship to its author, though a stranger to us. Long may his +able pen hold out! Widely may this his last work circulate! Blessed +may be the fruits! + + W. M. T. + + FRANKLIN, MASS., October, 1863. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +Our beloved country, my dear young readers, has passed through one +great revolution; and it is now in the midst of another, which +promises to prove even more momentous in its consequences. + +Knowing, therefore, the deep and lasting impression the great events +of the day must needs produce upon your opening minds, the author of +this book has been casting about him how he might contribute to your +and the nation's good. As he is altogether bereft of sight, and nearly +so of hearing, he is, of course, unable to lift a hand in his +country's defence, or raise his voice in her justification. But she +has a future; and for that he entertains an earnest hope, that through +you, the rising generation, he may do something. + +To this end, therefore, he has written this volume, wherein he has +endeavored to set forth, in a manner more calculated to attract and +impress the youthful mind than has perhaps been heretofore attempted, +the life and character of our good and great George Washington. + +By so doing, he hopes to awaken in your minds a desire to imitate the +example and emulate the virtues of this greatest and wisest of +Americans. For should he succeed in this, and thereby influence a +thousand of you, when arrived at man's estate, to remain loyal to your +country in her hour of peril (who might else have been tempted to turn +their hand against her), then shall his humble pen have done more for +her future welfare than he could have done for her present +deliverance, had he the wielding of a thousand swords. + +And, should he ever have reason to suppose that such were really the +case, far happier would he be, even in the dark and silent depths of +his solitude, than the renowned victor of a hundred battle-fields, in +all the blaze and noise of popular applause. Hoping that this little +book may, for your sakes, fulfil the object for which it was written, +and prove but the beginning of a long and pleasant acquaintance, he +will conclude by begging to subscribe himself your true friend and +well-wisher, + + MORRISON HEADY. + + ELK CREEK, SPENCER COUNTY, KY., 1863. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + _Introduction_ 17 + + WHEREIN IT WILL APPEAR WHO UNCLE JUVINELL IS, AND HOW HE CAME TO + WRITE THE LIFE OF "THE FARMER BOY" FOR THE LITTLE FOLKS. + + + I. + + _George at School_ 35 + + IN WHICH THE YOUNG READER WILL FIND SOME ACCOUNT OF THE BIRTH, + CHILDHOOD, AND EARLY EDUCATION OF GEORGE WASHINGTON, AND THE + STORY OF HIS LITTLE HATCHET; FROM WHICH HE MAY DRAW A WHOLESOME + MORAL, IF HE BE DESIROUS OF GROWING IN VIRTUE; TOGETHER WITH + OTHER MATTERS OF INTEREST AND IMPORTANCE HARDLY TO BE FOUND + ELSEWHERE. + + + II. + + _The First Sorrow_ 46 + + SHOWING HOW GEORGE MET WITH THE FIRST GREAT SORROW OF HIS LIFE + IN THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER; AND HOW HIS MOTHER WAS LEFT A YOUNG + WIDOW, WITH THE CARE OF A LARGE FAMILY; WITH SOME REMARKS ON THE + PRUDENCE AND WISDOM SUE DISPLAYED IN THE REARING OF HER + CHILDREN; TOGETHER WITH THE STORY OF THE SORREL COLT, WHICH + UNCLE JUVINELL INTRODUCES BY WAY OF ILLUSTRATING THE CHARACTERS + OF BOTH MOTHER AND SON. + + + III. + + _Playing Soldier_ 54 + + WHEREIN THE YOUNG READER WILL FIND HOW GEORGE FIGURED AS A + LITTLE SOLDIER AT SCHOOL; WITH SOME REMARKS TOUCHING HIS + WONDERFUL STRENGTH AND ACTIVITY OF BODY, AND COURAGE OF SPIRIT; + AND HOW HE WOULD HAVE FIGURED AS A LITTLE SAILOR, HAD HE NOT + BEEN PREVENTED BY A MOTHER'S ANXIOUS LOVE; WHICH INFLUENCED NOT + ONLY THE WHOLE COURSE OF HIS FUTURE LIFE, BUT ALSO THE DESTINY + OF HIS NATIVE COUNTRY, AND, IT MAY BE, THAT OF THE WHOLE WORLD; + AS THE LITTLE READER WILL FIND OUT FOR HIMSELF. IF HE BUT HAVE + THE PATIENCE TO BEAR UNCLE JUVINELL COMPANY TO THE END OF THIS + INTERESTING HISTORY. + + + IV. + + "_Rules of Behavior_" 61 + + AFFORDING TO THE READER ANOTHER AND HIS LAST GLIMPSE OF + WASHINGTON AS A SCHOOL-BOY. HERE HE WILL LEARN OF WASHINGTON'S + MANY INGENIOUS MODES OF GAINING AND RETAINING KNOWLEDGE, AND HIS + HABITS OF PUTTING IT TO PRACTICAL USES; AND WILL FIND HIS RULES + OF BEHAVIOR IN COMPANY AND IN CONVERSATION, WRITTEN AT THE AGE + OF THIRTEEN, WHICH UNCLE JUVINELL WOULD EARNESTLY RECOMMEND HIM, + AND, IN FACT, ALL HIS READERS, BE THEY BOYS OR GIRLS, MEN OR + WOMEN, TO STORE AWAY IN THEIR MEMORIES, IF THEY BE DESIROUS OF + GROWING IN VIRTUE. AND OF DEPORTING THEMSELVES IN SUCH A MANNER + AS TO GAIN THE GOOD-WILL AND ESTEEM, AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE + HAPPINESS, OF ALL AROUND THEM. + + + V. + + _In the Wilderness_ 70 + + IN WHICH WILL BE SEEN HOW GEORGE BECAME ACQUAINTED WITH OLD LORD + FAIRFAX, AND WAS EMPLOYED BY THIS GREAT NOBLEMAN TO ACT AS + SURVEYOR OF ALL HIS WILD LANDS; WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE HE + LED IN THE WILDERNESS, AND A SOMEWHAT HIGHLY COLORED PICTURE OF + A WAR-DANCE PERFORMED BY A PARTY OF INDIANS FOR THE + ENTERTAINMENT OF HIM AND HIS FRIENDS. + + + VI. + + _The Young Surveyor_ 78 + + REVEALING STILL FURTHER GLIMPSES OF WASHINGTON AS A YOUNG + SURVEYOR,--IN WHICH THE READER WILL SEE HOW THAT GREAT MAN + BROUGHT HIS LABORS IN THE WILDERNESS TO AN END; WITH SOME + REMARKS RESPECTING THE LOWLAND BEAUTY, AND HOW LITTLE IS KNOWN + OF HER. + + + VII. + + _First Military Appointment_ 89 + + IN WHICH THE YOUNG READER WILL LEARN HOW WASHINGTON, AT THE + EARLY AGE OF NINETEEN, BECAME ONE OF THE ADJUTANT-GENERALS OF + THE PROVINCE OF VIRGINIA; AND HOW HE WENT ON A VOYAGE TO THE + WEST INDIES IN COMPANY WITH HIS BROTHER LAWRENCE, WHO, BEING IN + QUEST OF HEALTH, AND FAILING TO FIND IT THERE, RETURNED HOME TO + DIE. + + + VIII. + + _Important Explanations_ 96 + + WHEREIN UNCLE JUVINELL AND THE LITTLE FOLKS TALK TOGETHER, IN A + PLEASING AND FAMILIAR STYLE OF CERTAIN MATTERS CONTAINED IN THE + FOREGOING PAGES; WHICH, BEING SOMEWHAT DIFFICULT OF + COMPREHENSION, NEED TO BE MORE FULLY AND CLEARLY EXPLAINED, THAT + THEY MAY THE BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT IS TO COME HEREAFTER IN THIS + INTERESTING HISTORY. + + + IX. + + _Indian Troubles_ 165 + + WHEREIN UNCLE JUVINELL GOES ON WITH HIS STORY, AND TELLS THE + LITTLE FOLKS ALL THAT IS NEEDFUL FOR THEM TO KNOW CONCERNING THE + CAUSES THAT BROUGHT ABOUT THE OLD FRENCH WAR; TO WHICH THE YOUNG + READER WILL DO WELL TO PAY VERY PARTICULAR ATTENTION. + + + X. + + "_Big Talk" with "White Thunder_" 115 + + EXPLAINING HOW MAJOR WASHINGTON CAME TO BE SENT BY GOVERNOR + DINWIDDIE ON A MISSION TO THE FRENCH, NEAR LAKE ERIE.--HOW HE + SET OUT.--WHAT BEFELL HIM BY THE WAY.--HOW HE STOPPED AT + LOGSTOWN TO HAVE A BIG TALK WITH THE HALF-KING, WHITE THUNDER, + AND OTHER INDIAN WORTHIES.--HOW HE AT LAST REACHED THE FRENCH + FORT, AND WHAT HE DID AFTER HE GOT THERE. + + + XI. + + _Christmas in the Wilderness_ 126 + + ENABLING THE YOUNG READER TO FOLLOW MAJOR WASHINGTON TO HIS + JOURNEY'S END, AND SEE HOW HE AND HIS PARTY SPENT THEIR + CHRISTMAS IN THE WILDERNESS.--HOW HE TWICE CAME NEAR LOSING HIS + LIFE, FIRST BY THE TREACHERY OF AN INDIAN GUIDE, AND THEN BY + DROWNING; WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF HIS INTERVIEW WITH THE INDIAN + PRINCESS, ALIQUIPPA. + + + XII. + + _Washington's First Battle_ 134 + + IN WHICH THE YOUNG READER, AFTER GETTING A HINT OF THE + TREMENDOUS CONSEQUENCES THAT ENSUED FROM THE FRENCH GENERAL'S + LETTER, WILL FIND SO MUCH TO ENTERTAIN HIM, THAT HE WILL READILY + EXCUSE UNCLE JUVINELL FROM GIVING THE REMAINING HEADS OF THIS + CHAPTER; FURTHER THAN TO SAY, THAT IT WINDS UP WITH QUITE A + LIVELY AND SPIRITED ACCOUNT OF WASHINGTON'S FIRST BATTLE. + + + XIII. + + _Fort Necessity_ 146 + + WHAT BEFELL COLONEL WASHINGTON IN AND AROUND FORT NECESSITY, AND + HOW HE SUSTAINED HIS FIRST SIEGE; WHICH WILL BE FOUND EVEN MORE + ENTERTAINING THAN THE ACCOUNT OF HIS FIRST BATTLE, NARRATED IN + THE LAST CHAPTER. + + + XIV. + + _General Braddock_ 158 + + IN WHICH THE YOUNG READER AND COLONEL WASHINGTON FORM THE + ACQUAINTANCE OF GENERAL BRADDOCK, AND COME TO THE SAME CONCLUSIONS + REGARDING HIS CHARACTER; AND IN WHICH THE READER IS HONORED WITH A + SLIGHT INTRODUCTION TO THE GREAT DR. FRANKLIN, WHO GIVES SOME GOOD + ADVICE, WHICH BRADDOCK, TO HIS FINAL COST, FAILS TO FOLLOW; AND IS + ENTERTAINED WITH A FEW GLIMPSES OF LIFE IN CAMP. + + + XV. + + _Rough Work_ 172 + + THE READER WILL SEE HOW GENERAL BRADDOCK AT LAST SET OUT ON HIS + MARCH TO FORT DUQUESNE.--HOW HE GOT ENTANGLED IN THE WILDERNESS, + AND WAS FORCED TO CALL UPON THE YOUNG PROVINCIAL COLONEL FOR + ADVICE. WHICH, THOUGH WISELY GIVEN, WAS NOT WISELY FOLLOWED.--HOW + CAPTAIN JACK MADE AN OFFER, FOR WHICH HE GOT BUT SORRY THANKS; AND + WILL FIND A SPRINKLING OF WAYSIDE ITEMS HERE AND THERE; WHICH + SAVES THIS CHAPTER FROM BEING CONSIDERED A DULL ONE. + + + XVI. + + _Braddock's Defeat_ 186 + + IN WHICH IS RECORDED THE BLOODIEST PAGE IN THE ANNALS OF AMERICA; + OR, TO EXPRESS IT OTHERWISE, AN ACCOUNT OF THE FAMOUS BATTLE OF + THE MONONGAHELA, COMMONLY CALLED BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT; WHICH, IT WILL + BE SEEN AT A GLANCE, MIGHT HAVE TURNED OUT A VICTORY AS WELL, HAD + WASHINGTON'S ADVICE BEEN FOLLOWED. + + + XVII. + + _Explanations_ 200 + + WHEREIN UNCLE JUVINELL AND THE LITTLE FOLKS DISCOURSE TOGETHER, IN + A LIVELY AND ENTERTAINING STYLE, OF DIVERS MATTERS TO BE FOUND, + AND NOT TO BE FOUND, IN BOOK THURSDAY; WHICH MAY SEEM OF LITTLE + CONSEQUENCE TO THOSE ELDERLY PEOPLE WHO ARE TOO WISE TO BE AMUSED, + AND WHO WOULD, ANY TIME, RATHER SEE A FACT BROUGHT OUT STARK NAKED + THAN DRESSED HANDSOMELY. SUCH OWLS ARE REQUESTED TO PASS OVER THIS + CHAPTER, AND PERCH UPON BOOK FRIDAY, PORTIONS OF WHICH WILL, BE + FOUND QUITE AS DRY AS THEY COULD POSSIBLY DESIRE. + + + XVIII. + + _Work in Earnest_ 210 + + SHOWING HOW BRADDOCK'S ARMY CONTINUED ITS FLIGHT TO + PHILADELPHIA.--HOW WASHINGTON RETURNED TO MOUNT VERNON, AND WAS + SHORTLY AFTERWARDS MADE COMMANDER OF ALL THE FORCES OF VIRGINIA; + AND HOW HE WENT TO BOSTON, AND WHY; WITH OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST. + + + XIX. + + _Dark Days_ 222 + + STILL FARTHER ACCOUNT OF WASHINGTON'S TROUBLES WITH THE INDIANS + AND WITH HIS OWN MEN, AND NOTICE OF HIS MISUNDERSTANDING WITH + GOVERNOR DINWIDDIE; ALL OF WHICH, COMBINED, RENDER THIS THE + SADDEST AND THE GLOOMIEST PERIOD OF HIS LIFE. + + + XX. + + _A New Enterprise_ 233 + + CONTAINING GLIMPSES OUTSIDE OF THE DIRECT LINE OF OUR STORY, WITH + A MORE MINUTE AND CIRCUMSTANTIAL ACCOUNT OF HOW WASHINGTON WOOED + AND WON A FAIR LADY THAN IS TO BE MET WITH ELSEWHERE; WITH SOME + PARTICULARS TOUCHING AN INTENDED EXPEDITION AGAINST FORT DUQUESNE. + + + XXI. + + _More Blundering_ 244 + + SHOWING HOW BRADDOCK'S FOLLY WAS REPEATED BY MAJOR GRANT, AS + FOREBODED BY WASHINGTON; AND ALSO WHAT CAME OF THE EXPEDITION + AGAINST FORT DUQUESNE. + + + XXII. + + _Washington at Home_ 255 + + GIVING AN ACCOUNT OF WASHINGTON'S MARRIAGE WITH MRS. CUSTIS.--HIS + RECEPTION BY THE VIRGINIA HOUSE OF BURGESSES.--HIS HABITS AS A MAN + OF BUSINESS.--HIS RURAL PURSUITS AND AMUSEMENTS.--HIS LOVE OF + SOCIAL PLEASURES.--HIS ADVENTURE WITH A POACHER; AND MANY OTHER + ITEMS; ALL OF WHICH, COMBINED, MAKE THIS CHAPTER ONE OF THE MOST + PLEASING AND ENTERTAINING OF THE WHOLE BOOK. + + + XXIII. + + _A Family Quarrel_ 269 + + WHEREIN THE YOUNG READER WILL FIND WHAT WILL BE EXPLAINED MORE TO + HIS SATISFACTION IN CHAPTER XXIV. + + + XXIV. + + _The Cause of the Quarrel_ 276 + + AFFORDING A MORE CLEAR, AND SATISFACTORY ACCOUNT OF THE CAUSES + THAT BROUGHT ABOUT OUR REVOLUTIONARY WAR THAN WAS GIVEN IN CHAPTER + XXIII; BUT CHAPTER XXV. MUST NEEDS BE READ, BEFORE A FULL AND + COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THESE MATTERS CAN BE ARRIVED AT. + + + XXV. + + _Resistance to Tyranny_ 288 + + ILLUSTRATING WHAT PART WASHINGTON TOOK IN THESE MEASURES OF + RESISTANCE TO BRITISH TYRANNY.--HOW HE BECAME A REPRESENTATIVE OF + VIRGINIA IN THE GREAT COLONIAL ASSEMBLY, OTHERWISE CALLED THE OLD + CONTINENTAL CONGRESS; AND HOW, UPON THE BREAKING-OUT OF + HOSTILITIES BETWEEN THE COLONIES AND THE MOTHER-COUNTRY, HE WAS + MADE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF ALL THE FORCES OF THE UNITED COLONIES; + WITH OTHER ITEMS TOUCHING THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONTINENTAL + CONGRESS, AND PATRICK HENRY, THE GREAT VIRGINIA ORATOR. + + + XXVI. + + _Conclusion_ 301 + + WHEREIN THE YOUNG READER WILL BE ENTERTAINED WITH THE PLEASING AND + EDIFYING CONVERSATION WHICH TOOK PLACE BETWEEN UNCLE JUVINELL AND + THE LITTLE FOLKS, TOUCHING DIVERS MATTERS IN BOOK FRIDAY; WHICH + DEMAND FURTHER CONSIDERATION FOR A MORE COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF + OUR HISTORY, PAST AND TO COME. + + + + +THE FARMER BOY. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +Somewhere in green Kentucky, not a great many years ago, the ruddy +light of a Christmas sunset, streaming in at the windows of an +old-fashioned brick house, that stood on a gentle hillside, half +hidden by evergreens, shone full and broad on a group of merry little +youngsters there met together to spend the holiday with their Uncle +Juvinell, a charming old bachelor of threescore and ten. + +What with "blind man's buff," "leap-frog," "hide-and-seek," "poor +pussy wants a corner," Mother Goose, dominos, sky-rockets and squibs, +and what with the roasting of big red apples and the munching of +gingerbread elephants, the reading of beautiful story-books,--received +that morning as Christmas presents from their Uncle Juvinell and other +loving relatives,--these little folks had found this day the most +delightful of their lives. + +Tired at last of play, and stuffed with Christmas knick-knacks till +their jackets and breeches could hold no more, they had now betaken +themselves to the library to await the return of their Uncle Juvinell, +who had gone out to take his usual evening walk; and were now quietly +seated round a blazing winter fire, that winked and blinked at them +with its great bright eye, and went roaring right merrily up the wide +chimney. Just as the last beam of the setting sun went out at the +window, Uncle Juvinell, as if to fill its place, came in at the door, +all brisk and ruddy from his tramp over the snow in the sharp bracing +air, and was hailed with a joyous shout by the little folks, who, +hastening to wheel his great arm-chair for him round to the fire, +pushed and pulled him into it, and called upon him to tell one of his +most charming stories, even before the tingling frost was out of his +nose. + +As this worthy old gentleman has done much for the entertainment and +instruction of the rising generations of the land, it is but due him +that some mention, touching his many amiable traits of character and +his accomplishments of mind and person, should be made in this place +for the more complete satisfaction of those who may hereafter feel +themselves indebted to him for some of the most pleasant moments of +their lives. + +In person, Uncle Juvinell is stout and well-rounded. His legs are fat, +and rather short; his body is fat, and rather long; his belly is snug +and plump; his hands are plump and white; his hair is white and soft; +his eyes are soft and blue; his coat is blue and sleek; and over his +sleek and dimpled face, from his dimpled chin to the very crown of his +head,--which, being bald, shines like sweet oil in a warm +fire-light,--there beams one unbroken smile of fun, good-humor, and +love, that fills one's heart with sunshine to behold. Indeed, to look +at him, and be with him a while, you could hardly help half believing +that he must be a twin-brother of Santa Claus, so closely does he +resemble that far-famed personage, not only in appearance, but in +character also; and more than once, having been met in his little +sleigh by some belated school-boy, whistling homeward through the +twilight of a Christmas or New Year's Eve, he has been mistaken for +the jolly old saint himself. In short, his whole appearance is in the +highest degree respectable; and there is even about him an air of +old-fashioned elegance, which of course is owing chiefly to the +natural sweetness and politeness of his manners, and yet perhaps a +little heightened withal by the gold-bowed spectacles that he wears on +his nose, the heavy gold bar that pins his snowy linen, the gold +buttons that shine on his coat, his massive gold watch-chain (at the +end of which hangs a great red seal as big as a baby's fist), and by +his gold-headed ebony cane, that he always carries on his shoulder +like a musket when he walks, as much as to say, "Threescore and ten, +and no need of a staff yet, my Christian friend." No man is more +beloved and esteemed by all who know him, old and young, than he; for +like Father Grimes, whose nephew he is by the mother's side.-- + + "He modest merit seeks to find, + And give it its desert; + He has no malice in his mind, + No ruffles on his shirt. + + His neighbors he does not abuse; + Is sociable and gay: + He wears large buckles in his shoes, + And changes them, each day." + +If there is one thing about Uncle Juvinell that we might venture to +pronounce more charming than another, it is the smile of mingled fun, +good-humor, and love, with which his countenance never ceases to +shine, save when he hears the voice of pain and his breast with pity +burns. Touching this same trait of his, a lady once said in our +hearing, that she verily believed a cherub, fresh from the rosy +chambers of the morning, came at the opening of each day to Uncle +Juvinell's chamber, just on purpose to dash a handful of sunbeams on +his head; and, as there were always more than enough to keep his face +bathed with smiles for the next twenty-four hours, they were not +wasted, but, falling and lodging on his gold spectacles, his gold +breast-pin, his gold buttons, his gold watch-chain, and the gold head +of his ebony cane, washed them with lustre ever new, as if his face, +bright and broad as it was, were not enough to reflect the love and +sunshine ever dwelling in his heart. We will not undertake to vouch +for the truth of this, however. As the young lady was a marriageable +young lady, and had been for a number of years, it would not be +gallant or generous for us to mention it; but of this we are certain, +that, when this good old gentleman enters a room, there is a warmth +and brightness in his very presence, that causes you to look round, +half expecting to see the tables and chairs throwing their shadows +along the floor, as if, by the power of magic, a window had suddenly +been opened in the wall to let in the morning sunshine. + +If the affections of Uncle Juvinell's heart are childlike in their +freshness, the powers of his intellect are gigantic in their +dimensions. He is a man of prodigious learning: for proof of which, +you have but to enter his library, and take note of the books upon +books that crowd the shelves from the floor to the ceiling; the maps +that line the walls; the two great globes, one of the earth and the +other of the heavens, that stand on either side of his reading-desk; +and the reading-desk itself, whereon there always lies some book of +monstrous size, wide open, which no one has ever had the courage to +read from beginning to end, or could comprehend if he did. + +In the languages he is very expert; speaking French with such +clearness and distinctness, that any native-born Frenchman, with a +fair knowledge of the English, can with but little difficulty +understand more than half he says; and in German he is scarcely less +fluent and ready; while his Latin is the envy of all who know only +their mother-tongue. In mathematics, his skill is such, that you might +give him a sum, the working-out of which would cover three or four +large slates; and he would never fail to arrive at the answer, let him +but take his time. + +In astronomy, he is perfectly at home among the fixed stars; can +distinguish them at a single glance, and that, too, without the help +of his spectacles, from the wandering planets; and is as familiar with +the motion and changes of the moon, as if he had been in the habit for +the last forty years of spending the hot summer months at some of the +fashionable watering-places of that amiable and interesting orb. But +it is in the history of the nations and great men of the earth that +Uncle Juvinell most excels, as shall be proved to your entire +satisfaction before reaching the end of this volume. + +And yet, notwithstanding the vastness of his learning and the gigantic +powers of his mind, he can, when it so pleases him, disburden himself +of these great matters, and descend from his lofty height to the +comprehension of the little folks, with as much ease as a huge +balloon, soaring amidst the clouds, can let off its gas, and sink down +to the level of the kites, air-balls, and sky-rockets wherewith they +are wont to amuse themselves. + +Being an old bachelor, as before noticed, he, of course, has no +children of his own; but, like the philosopher that he is, he always +consoles himself for this misfortune with the reflection, that, had he +been so favored, much of his love and affection must needs have been +wasted on his own six, eight, or ten, as the case might have been, +instead of being divided without measure among the hundreds and +thousands of little ones that gladden the wedded life, and fill with +their music the homes of others more blessed. + +Living, as all his brothers do, in easy circumstances, he has abundant +time and leisure to devote himself to the particular interest and +enjoyment of these little ones; and is always casting in his mind what +he may be doing to amuse them, or make them wiser, better, and +happier. + +Such is the ease, heartiness, and familiarity with which he demeans +himself when among them, and enters into all their little pastimes and +concerns, that they stand no more in awe of him than if he were one of +their own number; and make him the butt of a thousand impish pranks, +at which he laughs as heartily as the merriest rogue among them. And +yet it is for that very reason, perhaps, that they love him so +devotedly, and would give up their dog-knives or wax dolls any day, +sooner than show themselves unmindful of his slightest wishes, or do +aught that could bring upon them even his softest rebuke. They make +nothing of taking off his gold spectacles, and putting them on their +own little pugs to look wise; or running their chubby fists into the +tight, warm pockets of his breeches, in quest of his gold pencil or +pearl-handled knife; or dashing like mad over the yard, with his +gold-headed cane for a steed; or stealing up behind him, as he stands +with his back to the fire, and slyly pulling out his big red bandanna +handkerchief, wherewith to yoke the dog and cat together as they lie +sociably side by side on the hearth-rug. In short, he will suffer them +to tease him and tousle him and tumble him to their hearts' content, +and set no limits to their liberties, so long as they are careful not +to touch his snowy linen with their smutched fingers; for, if Uncle +Juvinell has one fault in the world, it is his unreasonable partiality +for snowy linen. But, were we to go on with our praises and +commendations of this best of men, we should fill a large volume full +to overflowing, and still leave the better half unsaid: so we must +exercise a little self-denial, and forego such pleasing thoughts for +the present, as it now behooves us to bring our minds to bear upon +matters we have more nearly in view. + +Seeing how earnestly the little folks were bent upon drawing out of +him one of his longest stories, Uncle Juvinell now bade them sit down +and be quiet till he should have time to conjure up something more +charming than any Arabian tale they had ever heard; and throwing +himself back in his great arm-chair, and fixing his eyes on the +glowing coals, that seemed to present to his fancy an ever-shifting +panorama, was soon lost in profound meditation. And the longer he +thought, the harder he looked at the fire, which knowingly answered +his look with a winking and blinking of its great bright eye, that +seemed to say, "Well, Uncle Juvinell, what shall we do for the +entertainment or instruction of these little people to-night? Shall we +tell them of that crew of antic goblins we wot of, who are wont to +meet by moonlight, to play at football with the hanged man's head, +among the tombstones of an old graveyard? Or may be that dreadful +ogre, with the one fiery eye in the middle of his forehead, who was in +the habit of roasting fat men on a spit for his Christmas dinners, +would be more to their taste. Or, if you prefer it, let it be that +beautiful fairy, who, mounted on a milk-white pony, and dressed in +green and gold, made her home in an echoing wood, for no other purpose +than to lead little children therefrom, who might by some ill chance +be separated from their friends, and lose their way in its tangled +wilds. Or perhaps you are thinking it would be more instructive to +them were we to conjure up some story of early times in green +Kentucky, when our great-grandfathers were wont to take their rifles +to bed with them, and sleep with them in their arms, ready to spring +up at the slightest rustling of the dry leaves in the woods, and +defend themselves against the dreaded Indian, as with panther-like +tread he skulked around their lonely dwellings." + +To each and all of these, Uncle Juvinell shook his head; none of them +being just exactly the thing he wanted. At length, finding that the +fire hindered rather than helped him to make a choice, he rose from +his seat, turned his back upon it, and looked from one bright face to +another of the circle before him, till his eye rested on Daniel, who +was among the oldest of the children, and was, by the way, the young +historian of the family, and, in his own opinion, a youth of rather +uncommon parts. He had that morning received from his uncle, as a +Christmas present, that most delightful of story-books, "Robinson +Crusoe;" but having seen the unlucky sailor high, but not dry, on his +desert island, and having run his eye over all the pictures, he had +laid it aside, and was now standing at the reading-desk, looking as +wise as a young owl in a fog over a very large book indeed, in which +he pretended to be too deeply interested to finish a slab of +gingerbread that lay half munched at his side. + +Seeing his little nephew thus engaged, Uncle Juvinell smiled a quiet +smile all to himself, and, after watching him a few moments, said, +"Dannie, my boy, what book is that you are reading with so much +interest that you have forgotten your gingerbread?" + +"Irving's Life of Washington, sir," replied Daniel with an air. + +"A good book, a very good indeed; but too hard for you, I fear," said +Uncle Juvinell, shaking his head. "Tell me, though, how far you have +read." + +"To Braddock's defeat, sir," replied Daniel. + +"You have been getting over the ground rather fast, I am thinking; but +tell me how you like it," said Uncle Juvinell, by way of drawing his +little nephew out. + +"Here and there, I come to a chapter that I like very much," replied +Daniel: "but there are parts that I don't understand very well; and I +was just thinking that I would point them out to you some time, and +get you to explain them to me; as you will, I am certain; for you know +every thing, and are so obliging to us little folks!" + +At this, Uncle Juvinell's face lighted up as with a brilliant thought; +but, without seeming to notice his little nephew's request just then, +he reseated himself, and again began looking hard at the fire. The +fire opened its great bright eye more widely than before, and looked +as if it were putting the question, "Well, sir, and what is it now? +Out with it, and I will throw what light I can on the matter." After a +few moments, there appeared to be a perfect understanding between +them; for the fire with a sly wink seemed to say, "A happy thought, +Uncle Juvinell,--a very happy thought indeed: I was just on the point +of proposing the very same thing myself. Come, let us go about it at +once, and make these holidays the brightest and happiest these little +folks have ever known, or ever could or would or should know, in all +their lives." And the fire fell to winking and blinking at such an +extravagant rate, that the shadows of those who were seated round it +began bobbing up and down the wall, looking like misshapen goblins +amusing themselves by jumping imaginary ropes, the gigantic one of +Uncle Juvinell leaping so high as to butt the ceiling. + +After several minutes of deep thought, the old gentleman rose, and +stood on his short fat legs with the air of a man who had made up his +mind, and with a smile on his face, as if sure he was just on the +point of giving them all a pleasant surprise. "Laura, my dear," said +he, "take down that picture from the wall you see hanging to the right +of the bookcase; and you, Ella, my darling, take that bunch of +feathers, and brush off the dust from it. Now hand it to me. This, my +cherubs," he went on, "is the portrait of the good and great George +Washington, who is called the Father of our country. It is to him, +more than to any other man, that we owe the blessings of freedom, +peace, and prosperity, we now enjoy in larger measure than any other +people of the wide earth; and it was for these same blessings that he +fought and struggled through all the weary years of our Revolutionary +War, amidst difficulties, dangers, and discouragements such as never +before tried the strength of man. And when, in the happy end, he, by +his courage, skill, and fortitude, and abiding trust in the protection +of an all-wise Providence, had come out victorious over all, and +driven our cruel enemies from the land, so that our homes were once +more gladdened with the smiles of peace and plenty,--then it was that +a grateful people with one voice hailed him chosen of the Lord for the +salvation of our beloved country. Blessed be the name of George +Washington,--blessed for evermore!" And a big tear of love and +thankfulness started from each of Uncle Juvinell's mild blue eyes, +trickled slowly over his ruddy cheek, and, dropping thence, went +hopping and sparkling down his large blue waistcoat. + +At this the little folks looked very grave, and thought to themselves, +"What a good man Washington must have been, and how much he must have +done and suffered for the welfare of his fellow-beings, thus to have +brought the tears to our dear old uncle's eyes!" After looking at the +picture for some moments in silence, they began talking about it, each +in his or her own fashion; while Uncle Juvinell listened with much +interest, curious to see what different impressions it would produce +on their minds. + +"That scroll he holds in his left hand must be his farewell address to +his army," said Daniel, the young historian, looking very wise. + +"What a fine long sword he carries at his side!" said Bryce, a +war-like youngster who had just climbed to the summit of his ninth +year, and had, as you must know, a wooden sword of his own, with which +he went about dealing death and destruction to whole regiments of +cornstalks and squadrons of horse-weeds, calling them British and +Tories. + +"How tall and grand and handsome he looks!" said Laura, a prim and +demure little miss of thirteen: "in his presence, I am sure I could +never speak above a whisper." + +"That, yonder, among the trees and evergreens on the hill, must be the +house where he lived," said Ella, a modest, sweet-mannered little lady +of twelve. "What a beautiful place it is! and what a happy home it +must have been when he lived in it!" + +"And see how the hill slopes down to the river, so grassy and smooth! +and such a nice place for little boys to roll over and over down to +the bottom!" said Ned, a rough-and-tumble youngster of ten, who spent +one-half of the sunshine with his back to the ground and his heels in +the air. + +"And see the beautiful river so broad and so smooth, and the great +ships afar off going down to the sea!" said Johnnie, a little poet of +eight, who passed much of his time dreaming with his eyes open. + +"And such a pretty play-house as I see there among the bushes on the +hillside!" said Fannie, a stout little matron of five, the mother of a +large and still increasing family of dolls. + +"That is not a play-house, Fannie, but the tomb where Washington lies +buried," said Dannie with an air of superior wisdom. + +"What a splendid white horse that black man is holding for him! How he +bows his neck, and champs his bit, and paws the ground!" said Willie, +a harum-scarum, neck-or-nothing young blade of fourteen, who would +have given his best leg to have been the owner of a galloping, +high-headed, short-tailed pony. + +"What is he doing so far away from home without his hat, I wonder?" +said Master Charlie, a knowing young gentleman of eight, who was much +in the habit of doubting everybody's eyes and ears but his own. + +"How kind and good he looks out of his eyes, just like father!" said +Mary, an affectionate and timid little creature of seven. + +Just then, Addison, a plump little fellow of four, in all the glory of +his first new jacket and his first new breeches, who was standing on +the top round of Uncle Juvinell's chair, suddenly cried out in a very +strong voice for his age, "Oh! he looks just like Uncle Juvinell: now +don't he, Cousin Mary?" + +For a man of his appearance to be thus compared with so stately and +dignified a man as Washington was a thing so ludicrous, that Uncle +Juvinell was surprised into the heartiest fit of laughter that he had +enjoyed that day. When it was over, he bade Laura hang up the picture +again in its accustomed place, and began where he had left off some +time before: "Now, my dear children, it came into my mind, while I was +talking with your Cousin Dannie a little bit ago, that I could not +tell you any thing more entertaining and instructive than the story of +Washington's life. It will, I am quite sure, interest you much: for +although he was such a great man,--the greatest, no doubt, that ever +lived,--and so awful to look upon, yet, for all that, his heart was +full to overflowing with the most tender and kindly affections, and, +if you can believe it, quite as fond of little children as your Uncle +Juvinell; often joining in their innocent sports for a whole hour at a +time. Let me see. This is Wednesday; and we have seven, eight, long +holidays before us to be as happy as skylarks in. Now, I am thinking, +that, if we would have next New Year's Day find us better and wiser, +we could not hit upon a more proper plan for beginning so desirable an +end than by spending a part of each day in making ourselves acquainted +with the life and character of this good and great man, and, at the +close of each evening's lesson, talking over what we have learned, to +our more complete understanding of the same. And now, my merry ones, +speak out, and tell me what you think of it." + +"It will be just exactly the very thing," said wise Daniel. + +"Glorious!" said rollicking Willie. + +"Charming!" said prim and demure Miss Laura. + +"'Twill be delightful, I am sure," said modest Ella. + +"Nothing could please me better, if we have a good big battle now and +then," said war-like Bryce. + +"I wonder if it will be as interesting as 'Robinson Crusoe'?" put in +doubting Charlie. + +"Or 'Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp'?" chimed in dreaming Johnnie. + +"And we'll all listen, and be so good!" said timid, loving little +Mary. + +"Wait a moment for me, uncle, till I run down to the cabin, just to +see how Black Daddy's getting along making my sled," said hair-brained +Ned. + +"And wait a little bit for me too, uncle, till I go and put my dolly +babe to bed; for she might take the measles if I keep her up too +long," said motherly Fannie. + +"And let me sit on your knee, uncle; Cousin Mary wants my chair," said +Addison, the youngest one of them all, at the same time climbing up, +and getting astride of Uncle Juvinell's left fat leg. + +"Then settle yourselves at once, you noisy chatterboxes," said Uncle +Juvinell with a shining face; "and mind you be as quiet and mute as +mice at a cat's wedding while I am telling my story, or I'll"--His +threat was drowned in the joyous shouts of the children as they +scrambled into their chairs. When they had all put on a listening +look, he poured out a little yellow, squat, Dutch mug brimful of rich +brown cider from a big blue pitcher that Black Daddy had just placed +on a table close at hand, and, having wet his whistle therewith, began +his story. And now and then, as the story went on, the fire, keeping +its bright, watchful eye upon the old gentleman, would wink at him in +a sly manner, that seemed to say, "Well done, Uncle Juvinell,--very +well done indeed. You see, sir, I was quite right in what I told you. +We have hit upon the very thing. The little folks are enchanted: they +are drawing in wisdom with every breath. A merry Christmas to us all!" +Pop, pop! hurrah! pop! + + + + +I. + +GEORGE AT SCHOOL. + + +A hundred years ago or more, there stood on the green slopes of the +Potomac, in the county of Westmoreland, Va., an old red farmhouse, +with a huge stone chimney at each end, and high gray roof, the eaves +of which projected in such a manner as to cover a porch in front and +two or three small shed-rooms in the rear. Now, although this house +was built of wooden beams and painted boards, and was far from being +what could be called, even for those times, a fine one,--looking as it +did more like a barn than a dwelling for man,--yet, for all that, it +had the honor of being the birthplace of the good and great George +Washington, who is said, by many very wise persons who ought to know, +to have been the greatest man that ever came into this pleasant and +glorious world of ours. + +His father, Augustine Washington, was married early in life to Jane +Butler, who died after having borne him two sons, Lawrence and +Augustine. In a year or two after this loss, feeling the want of some +one to gladden his lonely heart and home, he married Mary Ball, the +belle of Horseneck, and said to have been the most beautiful young +lady in all that part of the country. By this union he was blessed +with six children, of whom our George, the eldest, was born on the +twenty-second day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand +seven hundred and thirty-two. + +It has often appeared strange to me that nothing should be known of +this great man's life up to the completion of his fifth year: and I am +sorry for your sakes, my little ones, that such is the case; for it +would be such a nice beginning to our story, could we say with +certainty that he distinguished himself by walking alone at the age of +five months; that he could pronounce "Mother" and "Good" with perfect +distinctness when but one year old; that his mother taught him at the +age of two to kneel by her side, and lisp, before going to his evening +rest, that beautiful prayer, beginning with, "Now I lay me down to +sleep;" that he rode like mad, at the age of three, round and round +the yard, on his father's buckhorn-headed cane; and that he rode on a +real horse at the age of four, and went galloping like a young Tartar +round and round the meadow in front of the house, to the delight of +his young mother, who watched him from the window. Of all this, and a +great deal more of the same sort, you would, I doubt not, like much to +hear, and I would like much to tell you; but we must keep within the +bounds of true history, and content ourselves with the knowledge of +that which really did happen. With this safe rule for our guidance, we +will therefore proceed at once to take up the thread of our story at +that period of George's boyhood, concerning which some certain record +has come down to our time. + +At the age of five, when he was old enough to walk all alone for a +mile or two through the woods and fields, his parents started him to +school one bright spring morning, with his little basket on his arm, +containing his dinner and a bran-new spelling-book, to take his first +tiny steps in the flowery path of knowledge. + +His first teacher was a Mr. Hobby, an old man, who lived on a distant +part of his father's plantation, and is said to have been besides the +sexton or grave-digger of the neighborhood; and was, I have my private +reasons for thinking, a broken-down old soldier, with a big cocked hat +that shaded a kindly and weather-beaten face, and a wooden leg,--an +ornament for which he was indebted to a cannon-ball, and took more +pride in than if it had been a sound one of flesh and bone. As it is +rarely ever the case that men with wooden legs are called upon to +fight the battles of their country, this worthy old man, who well knew +how to read and write, and cipher too, must needs earn his livelihood +by teaching school, and sowing his knowledge broadcast among the +little children of the neighborhood. + +Accordingly, it was to old Mr. Hobby, as everybody called him, that +George was indebted for his first insight into the mysteries of +book-learning; and although he was in due time to become the greatest +man of this or any other age or country, yet he began his education +by first learning his A B C, just as did other boys of that day, +just as they are now doing, and just as they will continue to do +for all time to come. After he had taken his A B C into his memory, +and set them there in a straight row each in its proper place, he was +not long, depend upon it, in reaching the middle of his spelling-book; +and as soon as he could, without anybody's help, climb over tall and +difficult words of five or six syllables, such as "immortality" or +"responsibility," his master put him in the English Reader, where +he soon overtook and went clean ahead of boys a great deal older +than himself. From reading, he in a short time rose to writing; +and it was said by those who knew him best, that he learned to write +a neat round hand without ever once blotting his copy-book; and +furthermore, that such a thing as a dirty, thumb-worn, dog-eared +book was never seen in his hand. His next step in the path of +knowledge was arithmetic; and, in less time than you can well +believe, he had got the multiplication-table so thoroughly by heart, +that he could run over it as fast backwards, from twelve times twelve +to twice one, as common boys straightforward, even with the open book +before their eyes. So well did he study, that, in less than four +years' time after his first starting to school, the single rule of +three was no more to him than long division to most boys; and he +could repeat the tables of weights and measures as glibly as you, +Master Johnnie, can rattle off the charming story of "Old Mother +Hubbard and her Wonderful Dog." + +Now, the rapid progress George made in his studies was owing not so +much to his uncommon aptitude at learning as to the diligence and +industry with which he applied himself to them. For example: when +other boys would be staring out at the window, watching the birds and +squirrels sporting among the tree-tops; or sitting idly with their +hands in their pockets, opening and shutting their jack-knives, or +counting their marbles, or munching apples and corn-dodgers in a +sneaking and unbecoming manner behind their books; or, more naughty +still, shooting paper bullets at old Hobby's wooden leg as he eat +dozing behind his high desk of a drowsy summer afternoon,--our George, +with his hands to his ears to keep out the schoolroom buzz, would be +studying with all his might; nor would he once raise his eyes from his +book till every word of his lesson was ready to drop from his tongue's +end of its own accord. So well did he apply himself, and so attentive +was he to every thing taught him, that, by the time he was ten years +old, he had learned all that the poor old grave-digger knew himself; +and it was this worthy man's boast in after-years, that he had laid +the foundation of Washington's future greatness. But what old Wooden +Leg--for so they always called him when his back was turned--could not +teach him at school, little George learned at home of his father and +mother, who were well educated for those days; and many a long winter +evening did these good parents spend in telling their children +interesting and instructive stories of olden times, far-off countries, +and strange people, which George would write down in his copy-book in +his neatest, roundest hand, and remember ever afterward. + +A more prudent and careful father, and a more discreet and +affectionate mother, than Mr. Washington and his wife Mary, perhaps +never lived. So earnest and watchful were they to bring up their +children in the fear of the Lord, and in the practice of every noble +virtue, that their dutiful behavior and sweet manners were the talk +and praise of the good people for miles and miles around. They taught +them to be neat and orderly in their dress, as well as civil and +polite in their manners; to be respectful to their elders; to be kind +to one another, and to every thing God hath made, both great and +small, whether man or bird or beast: but chiefly were they concerned +to teach them the love of truth, and to tell it at all times when it +should be their duty to speak out, let the consequences be what they +might. To show you that such wise and careful training was not lost +on the tender mind of George, I will tell you the story of his little +hatchet, as it may serve you good stead in the day when you may be +tempted to wander astray from the path of truth and virtue. + +One Christmas Eve, when the sharp, frosty air made the blood brisk and +lively in the veins, little George, who was then about six years old, +hung up his stocking on the mantel of the huge chimney, saying to +himself as he did so, "Good Santa Claus, be kind to me while I am +sleeping peacefully." Next morning, bright and early, just as a great +Christmas log had begun to blaze and crackle on the hearth, he jumped +spryly from his bed, and, without stopping to put on his clothes, ran +to his stockings to see what good old Santa Claus had brought him +while he slept. I leave you to picture to your minds his delight upon +finding therein a little Indian tomahawk, with a bright keen edge and +long red handle. It would have done all your hearts good to have seen +how he skipped and danced around the room, and flourished his hatchet +high over his head; how he went showing it to every one about the +house, white and black; praising good old Santa Claus to the very +skies, and never once feeling the want of his breeches. But, between +you and me, I am rather inclined to suspect, that, if we had any means +of arriving at the facts of the case, it would be found that Santa +Claus had no more concern in this matter than your Uncle Juvinell +himself. To my mind, there is more reason in the supposition, that his +father, seeing the jolly old saint pass by at a late hour of the night +in an empty sleigh, and that the children were not likely to have +their stockings filled for that once, got up early in the morning, and +put the hatchet in there himself, rather than that his little son +should be disappointed. + +Be this as it may, it was all the same to George; and he was as happy +as happy could be. At the breakfast-table, he could hardly eat his +bread and milk for looking at his shining axe, which he had laid +beside him on the table; and, before it was fairly broad daylight, he +was out at the wood-yard, ankle-deep in snow, cutting and chopping +away at the hard-seasoned beech and maple logs, as if it lay with him, +for that day at least, to keep the whole family, white and black, from +freezing. By and by, however, he found this more work than play, and +began to cast his earnest young eyes about him for something green and +soft whereon to try the edge and temper of his hatchet. Presently, as +ill-luck would have it, a fine young English cherry-tree, just over +the fence hard by, caught his attention, which, without further ado, +he fell to hacking might and main; and the way he made the little +chips fly was a thing surprising to see. + +Next morning, his father, passing by that way, saw the mischief that +had been done, and was sorely displeased: for he had planted and +reared this selfsame tree with the tenderest care; and, of all the +trees in his orchard, there was not one other he prized so highly. +Being quite sure that it was the work of some of the black children, +he went straightway down to the negro quarter, bent on finding out, +and bringing the unlucky culprit to a severe account. + +"Dick," said he to the first one he met, "did you cut that +cherry-tree?" + +"No, mauster; don't know nothin' 'bout it," said Dick, showing the +whites of _his_ eyes. + +"Did you, Sam?" said Mr. Washington, putting the same question to +another little woolly-head. + +"No, mauster; don't know nothin' 'bout it," said Sam, likewise showing +the whites of his eyes. + +The same question was put to Harry, who gave Dick and Sam's answer +word for word, and, to add force to his denial, showed the whites of +his eyes in like manner; and so on, till more than a dozen had been +questioned with the same result; when it came to Jerry's turn to make +denial, and show the whites of his eyes. + +Now, you must know there was not a more audacious, mischief-making, +neck-or-nothing black brat than this same Jerry to be found on the +banks of the Rappahannock, which is a very long river indeed. As a +fish lives in water, or a salamander in fire, so did Jerry live and +breathe, and have his being, in mischief; or, in other words, mischief +was the element in which Jerry found his chief delight. If any mishap +befell anybody or any thing, at any hour of the day or night, on any +part of the plantation, on foot or on horseback, at rest or in motion, +it was sure to be brought and laid at Jerry's door. Being aware of all +this, Mr. Washington was now quite sure, that, as none of the rest had +cut the cherry-tree, Jerry himself must be the offender; and so he put +the question to him; to which Jerry, showing the whites of his eyes, +made answer, "No, mauster; I didn't cut the cherry-tree: indeed, +indeed, and double deed, I didn't cut the cherry-tree." + +"Ah! Jerry," said his master, "if you always told the truth, I should +know when to believe you; but, as you do not, you must take the +consequences of your evil ways, and blame nobody but yourself." + +Upon hearing this, Jerry began dancing and hopping around the room in +a very brisk and lively manner, even before his master was within ten +feet of him, as if he already felt the switch about his legs. + +Just then, in the very nick of time, George came walking leisurely by, +hatchet in hand; who, upon seeing how matters stood, without a +moment's hesitation, ran up to his father, and, dropping his hatchet, +caught him round the leg, just as the first stroke of the switch was +about to descend on the calves of the unlucky Jerry. + +"O papa, papa!" cried he, "don't whip poor Jerry: if somebody must be +whipped, let it be me; for it was I, and not Jerry, that cut the +cherry-tree. I didn't know how much harm I was doing; I didn't +indeed." And the child began crying piteously. + +With a look of glad surprise, his father, dropping the switch, caught +his brave little boy in his arms, and folded him tenderly, lovingly, +to his bosom. "Now, thanks be to God," cried he, "thanks be to God, +that I have a son whose love of truth is greater than his fear of +punishment! Look on him, my black children, look on him, and be as +near like him as you can, if you would have the love of your master +and the good-will of all around you." + +Seeing the unlooked-for turn the affair had taken, and not having the +words to express the feelings of joy and thankfulness that swelled +almost to bursting in his little black breast, Jerry darted through +the door, out into the yard, kicked up his heels, yelped like a young +dog, threw a somerset in the snow, and went rolling over and over down +to the bottom of the hill, and ever after loved his noble little +master to distraction. + + + + +II. + +THE FIRST SORROW. + + +When George had learned all that poor old Hobby could teach him, his +father, to reward him for his diligence and good behavior at school, +indulged him in two or three weeks' holidays, which he went to spend +at a distance from home, among some friends and relatives. Here, as +usual, he was made much of; for, being a great favorite with all who +knew him, he met with a cordial reception wherever he went; and what +with hunting and fishing, riding and visiting, the time spent here was +the most delightful he had ever known. But hardly had half the happy +days flown by, when word came that his father was sick, even unto +death; and that, of all things, he most desired to look upon his noble +boy once more before he died. With a sadness and heaviness of heart he +had never before experienced, George set out on his return home, where +he arrived just in time to receive his dying father's blessing. Long +and deeply did he mourn his loss; for his father was most tenderly +beloved by his children, and greatly esteemed by his friends and +neighbors as a useful member of society, and a man of many sterling +traits of character. + +Mrs. Washington was thus left a young widow with a large family of +young children, whom it now became her duty to provide for and educate +in a manner becoming a Christian mother; and how well and faithfully +and lovingly she discharged this sacred trust, is most beautifully set +forth in the life and character of her great son. She was a woman of +uncommon strength and clearness of understanding, and her heart was +the home of every pure and noble virtue. She was mild, but firm; +generous, but just; candid whenever she deemed it her duty to speak +her mind, but never losing sight of the respect and consideration due +to the feelings and opinions of others. She was gentle and loving with +her children, yet exacting from them in return the strictest obedience +to her will and wishes. But of all virtues most sacred in her eyes was +that of the love of truth, which she ever sought to implant in their +minds; assuring them, that, without it, all other virtues were but as +unprofitable weeds, barren of fruits and flowers. She was simple and +dignified in her manners, and had a hearty dislike for every thing +savoring of parade and idle show. She always received her friends and +visitors with a cordial smile of welcome, spreading before them with +an unsparing hand the best her house afforded: but, when they rose to +depart, she would invite them once, and once only, to stay longer; +and, if after this they still seemed bent on going, she would do all +in her power to speed them on their journey. With so many traits +betokening strength of mind and character, she had but one weakness; +and this was her excessive dread of thunder, caused in early +maidenhood by seeing a young lady struck dead at her side by +lightning. + +And such was Mary, the mother of Washington; and seldom indeed has her +like been seen. As her husband, by industry and prudent management, +had gathered together enough of the riches of this world to leave each +of his children a fine plantation, she was not hindered by straitened +circumstances, or anxiety as to their means of future support, from +giving her chief attention to such bodily and mental training as +should have a lasting tendency to make them, in more mature years, +healthy, virtuous, and wise. + +It has been often remarked, that those men who have most distinguished +themselves in the world's history for noble thoughts and heroic deeds, +have, as a general thing, inherited those qualities of mind and heart +which made them great, from their mothers, rather than from their +fathers; and also that their efforts to improve and elevate the +condition of their fellow-beings have been owing in a larger measure +to the lessons of truth, piety, and industry, taught them by their +mothers in childhood and early youth. If this be the case, then how +much are we indebted for the freedom, prosperity, and happiness we +now enjoy above other nations of the earth, to Mary, the mother of +Washington! Perhaps, to give you a still more forcible idea of the +characters of both mother and son, and of the wholesome effects on him +of her judicious training, I ought to relate in this place the story +of his attempt at taming the sorrel horse. + +A fine horse was an object that afforded Mrs. Washington, as it did +the other substantial Virginia ladies of that day, quite as much, if +not more, real pleasure than their more delicate grand-daughters of +the present now find in their handsome carriages, lap-dogs, and +canary-birds. So great was her fondness for this noble animal, that +she usually suffered two or three of her finest to run in a meadow in +front of the house, where she might look at them from time to time as +she sat sewing at her dining-room window. One of these was a young +sorrel horse, of great beauty of form, and fleetness of foot, but of +so wild and vicious a nature, that, for fear of accident, she had +forbidden any one to mount him, although he had already reached his +full height and size. + +Now, you must know that a bolder and more skilful rider than George +was not to be found in all the Old Dominion, as Virginia is sometimes +called; and it was this early practice that afterwards won for him the +name of being the finest horseman of his day. Often, as we may very +naturally suppose to have been the case, would he reason thus with +himself, as, sitting on the topmost rail of a worm fence, he watched +the spirited young animal frisking and bounding about the field in all +the freedom of his untamed nature: "If I were but once upon his back, +with a strong bit in his mouth, believe me, I would soon make him a +thing of use as well as ornament; and it would, I am sure, be such a +pleasant surprise to mother to look from her window some fine morning, +and see me mounted on his back, and managing him with ease, and to +know that it was I who had subdued his proud spirit." + +Accordingly, full of these thoughts, he arose early one bright summer +morning, and invited two or three friends of his own age, then on a +visit at his mother's house, to go with him to the fields, to share +with him the sport, or lend their aid in carrying out his design, +should it be found too difficult and hazardous for himself alone. They +needed no second bidding, these young madcaps, to whom nothing could +be more to their liking than such wild sport. So at it they went; and +after a deal of chasing and racing, heading and doubling, falling down +and picking themselves up again, and more shouting and laughing than +they had breath to spare for, they at last succeeded in driving the +panting and affrighted young animal into a corner. Here, by some means +or other (it was difficult to tell precisely how), they managed to +bridle him, although at no small risk of a broken head or two from +his heels, that he seemed to fling about him in a dozen different +directions at once. Having thus made him their captive, they led him +out to the more open parts of the field, where George requested his +friends to hold him till he could get on his back. But the wild and +unruly spirit the young beast had shown that morning had so dismayed +them, that they flatly refused to comply; begging him not to think of +attempting it, as it would be at the risk of life or limb. But George +was not to be daunted by such trifles; and seeing that his blood was +up, and knowing that, when this was the case with him, he was not to +be turned aside from his purpose, they at length yielded unwilling +consent to his entreaties; and, giving him the required aid, he was +soon mounted. + +This was an insult the proud-spirited animal could not brook; and he +began plunging and rearing in a manner so frightful to behold, that +they who watched the struggle for mastery expected every moment to see +the daring young rider hurled headlong to the ground. But he kept his +seat unmoved and firm as an iron statue on an iron horse. At length, +however, the horse, clinching the bit between his teeth, became for a +time unmanageable, and sped away over the field on the wings of the +wind; till, making a false step, he staggered and plunged, rallied +again, staggered, and, with the red life-stream gushing from his +nostrils, dropped down dead. + +George sprang from the ground unharmed: but, when he saw the noble +young animal stretched out smoking and bloody and lifeless before him, +tears of pity filled his eyes; and still faster did they flow when he +thought of the grief it would occasion his mother, when she should +hear how her beautiful favorite had come to his end. His companions +now rejoining him, they all, with sad misgiving in their hearts, +returned to the house, where Mrs. Washington met them with a cheerful +good-morning, and, when they had taken their seats at the +breakfast-table, began talking with them in her usual lively and +entertaining manner, until the dreaded question came: "Well, young +gentlemen," said she, "have you seen any thing of my sorrel horse in +your walks this morning?" + +The boys looked at one another for some moments in silence, scarce +knowing what answer to make. At last, George, to put an end to the +painful suspense, said in a subdued voice, "Mother, the sorrel horse +is dead." He then, in a few brief words, told her how it had all +happened, and ended by entreating her forgiveness if he had offended; +at the same time assuring her, that, in so doing, he had only thought +of giving her a pleasant surprise. + +When he first began his account of the mishap, a flush of anger rose +to his mother's cheek; of which, however, there was not a trace to be +seen by the time he had finished; and she answered, with something +like an approving smile, "My son, as you have had the courage to come +and tell me the truth at once, I freely forgive you: had you skulked +away, I would have despised you, and been ashamed to own you as my +son." + + + + +III. + +PLAYING SOLDIER. + + +After the death of her husband, Mrs. Washington left the care and +education of her son George, in no small measure, to the judgment and +discretion of her step-son Lawrence, a young man of twenty-five, and +lately married to Miss Fairfax. The love that had always existed +between these two brothers was something beautiful indeed to +behold,--the more so when we take into consideration the difference of +fourteen years in their ages; and, now that their dear father was no +more, this love grew all the more tender and strong, and George soon +learned to look up to his eldest brother as to a second father. + +Mr. Lawrence Washington, besides being a fine scholar and one of the +most polished gentlemen of his day, was also a brave and able soldier; +having served during the late Spanish war as a lieutenant under the +great Admiral Vernon, in honor of whom he had named his fine estate on +the Potomac, Mount Vernon. + +At Mount Vernon, then, we find George spending by far the greater +portion of his holidays; and here he often fell in with young +officers, fellow-soldiers of his brother, to whom with eager ears he +was wont to listen as they recounted their adventures, and told of +hard-fought battles by land and sea with the roving pirates, or +sea-robbers, and proud and vengeful Spaniards. These stories so fired +his ardent young spirit, that he longed of all things to become a +great soldier, that he might go forth to fight the enemies of his +country, wherever they were to be found, and drive them from the face +of the wide earth. To give these feelings some relief, he would muster +his little school-fellows at play-time, and take them through the +lessons of a military drill; showing them how to fire and fall back, +how to advance and retreat, how to form in line of march, how to pitch +their tents for a night's encampment, how to lay an Indian ambuscade, +how to scale a wall, how to storm a battery; and, in short, forty +other evolutions not to be found in any work on military tactics ever +written, and at which old Wooden Leg, had he been there, would have +shaken his cocked hat with a dubious look. Then dividing them into two +opposing armies, with himself at the head of one, and the tallest boy +of the school leading on the other, he would incite them to fight sham +battles with wooden swords, wooden guns, snow-balls, and such other +munitions of war as came most readily to hand; in which George, no +matter what might be the odds against him, or what superior advantages +the enemy might have in weapons or ground, was always sure to come off +victorious. + +He was a handsome boy, uncommonly tall, strong, and active for his +age; could out-run, out-jump, out-ride any boy three years older than +himself; and, in wrestling, there was not one in a hundred who could +bring his back to the ground. Many stories are told of his wonderful +strength; and the spot is still shown, where, when a boy, he stood on +the banks of the Rappahannock River, and, at its widest part, threw a +stone to the opposite side,--a feat that no one has been found able to +perform since that day. It was said, that, a few years later, he stood +under the Natural Bridge, and threw a silver dollar upon the top of +it,--a height of two hundred and twenty feet; not less than that of +Bunker-hill Monument, and more than double that of the tallest hickory +that ever hailed down its ripened nuts upon your heads. Although there +were none more studious than he in the schoolroom, yet he always took +the keenest delight in every kind of active and manly sport, and was +the acknowledged leader of the playground. But he had qualities of +mind and heart far more desirable and meritorious than those of mere +bodily activity and strength. Such was his love of truth, his strong +sense of justice, and his clearness of judgment, that, when any +dispute arose between his playmates, they always appealed to him to +decide the difference between them, as willing to abide by his +decision, and make it their law. Although he had the courage of a +young lion, and was even more than a match in strength for many an +older boy, he was never known to have a fight at school, nor elsewhere +indeed, that I have ever heard; for such was the respect he ever +showed to the feelings and wishes of others, that he never gave an +insult, and, depend upon it, never received one. + +The high ground of Mount Vernon commands a splendid view of the +Potomac up and down for miles, where it makes a noble bend, and winds +its shining course amidst verdant meadow-slopes and richly wooded +hills. Now and then, in the course of the year, some noble ship, with +all its sails outspread and gay banners fluttering to the breeze, +might be seen moving down the majestic stream, hastening in its pride +and strength to stem the billows of the mighty ocean. With the keenest +of delight none but the young and daring mind can ever know, George, +as he stood on the piazza in front of his brother's mansion, would +watch them with wishful eyes, until a bend of the river hid their +lofty masts behind the green tops of the yet more lofty hills between. +Then would there awaken in his heart an earnest longing to become a +sailor; to go forth in some gallant ship upon the face of the great +deep; to visit those far-off countries, where he might behold with his +own eyes those wonders he had read so much of in books. At such +times, it may be, there would arise in his mind enchanting visions of +some desert island, upon whose lonely rocky shores he might some day +have the rare good fortune of being thrown by the angry billows, there +to dwell, like another Robinson Crusoe, many, many years, with no +other company than talking birds, skipping goats, and dancing cats, +and, if so lucky, a good man Friday, to be rescued by his daring from +the bloody clutches of the terrible cannibals. + +Lawrence Washington was not long in discovering the thoughts that were +uppermost in the mind of the adventurous boy; and, like the generous +brother that he was, resolved that, should an opportunity offer, a +wish so natural should be gratified. In a short time after, George +being then about fourteen years of age, a British man-of-war moved up +the Potomac, and cast anchor in full view of Mount Vernon. On board of +this vessel his brother Lawrence procured him a midshipman's warrant, +after having by much persuasion gained the consent of his mother; +which, however, she yielded with much reluctance, and many misgivings +with respect to the profession her son was about to choose. Not +knowing how much pain all this was giving his mother, George was as +near wild with delight as could well be with a boy of a nature so even +and steady. Now, what had all along been but a waking dream was about +to become a wide-awake reality. His preparations were soon made: +already was his trunk packed, and carried on board the ship that was +to bear him so far away from his native land; and nothing now remained +but to bid farewell to the loved ones at home. But when he came and +stood before his mother, dressed in his gay midshipman's uniform, so +tall and robust in figure, so handsome in face, and so noble in look +and gesture, the thought took possession of her mind, that, if she +suffered him to leave her then, she might never see him more; and, +losing her usual firmness and self-control, she burst into tears. + +"Deeply do I regret, my dear son," said she, "to disappoint you in a +wish you have so near at heart: but I find I cannot bring myself to +give you up yet; for, young as you are, your aid and counsel have +already become to me of the greatest service and comfort; and these +little fatherless ones, now weeping around you, have learned to look +up to you as their protector and guide. You know too little of the +ways of the world, and are too young and inexperienced, to go forth to +endure its hardships, and battle with its temptations, that lie in +wait on every side to entrap the unwary, and lead them down to +destruction. Without you, our home would be lonely indeed: then, for +your mother's sake, and for the sake of these little ones, give up +your darling scheme, for the present at least, that we may all be +happy at home once more together." + +Thus entreated, what could he do but yield consent to the wishes of a +loving and prudent mother, and remain at home? where, in a few days, +his noble self-denial was rewarded with a sweet contentment of mind +that he could never have known had he left the dear ones in sorrow +behind him, and gone forth to spend months and years upon the billows +of the lonely seas. Surely a kind Heaven so ordered that the welfare +and happiness of us Americans, and, it may be, that of the whole +world, should be made to depend upon the promptings of a mother's +love; for had the boy Washington realized this early dream, and gone +forth in that gallant ship, he might have perished in the stormy deep, +and we had never known the name we now love so much to praise and +venerate. Or, by his distinguished abilities, he might have risen to +become in time the Lord High Admiral of the British Navy; and, instead +of being set apart to the salvation of his native land, might have +been made an instrument to its destruction, impossible as such an +event may now appear to us, with our knowledge of the glorious work he +did perform when in the fulness of his strength and years, and +accustomed as we are to behold in him our model of all that is great +and virtuous in mankind. + + + + +IV. + +"RULES OF BEHAVIOR." + + +For the five years following his father's death, George made his home +at the house of his half-brother, Augustine Washington, at a +considerable distance from his mother's, where he might have the +benefit of a better school which that neighborhood afforded. His new +schoolmaster was a Mr. Williams, a very worthy man; who, however, +although he knew a vast deal more than Mr. Hobby, the poor old +grave-digger, was far from being what we might call a first-rate +scholar. But what his teacher lacked in learning, George made up in +diligence, and the most judicious use of every means of +self-improvement within his reach. And here, my dear children, let me +remind you of a thing worthy of your remembrance through life, that +success in the pursuit of knowledge depends far less upon the ability +and skill of the teacher, than upon the industry, perseverance, and +willing application of the learner. + +Under the instruction of this, his second and last teacher, George got +a little insight into English grammar, read some history, became well +acquainted with geography, completely mastered arithmetic, and made +handsome progress in geometry and trigonometry; which, as you must +know, are higher branches of mathematics than arithmetic, and far more +difficult to comprehend. In connection with the two latter, he studied +surveying; by which is taught, as you must continue to bear in mind +hereafter, the measurement of land. + +When he had advanced so far in this study as to give him some idea of +the proper use and handling of the chain and compass, the two +principal instruments employed in this art, he began to put his +knowledge into practice by taking surveys of the farms lying in the +immediate neighborhood of his schoolhouse, and also of the lands +belonging to the estate of Mount Vernon. + +Assisted by his schoolmates, he would follow up, and measure off with +the help of his long steel chain, the boundary lines between the +farms, such as fences, roads, and watercourses; then those dividing +the different parts of the same farm; determining at the same time, +with the help of his compass, their various courses, their crooks and +windings, and the angles formed at their points of meeting or +intersection. This would enable him to get at the shape and size not +only of each farm, but of every meadow, field, and wood composing it. +This done, he would make a map or drawing on paper of the land +surveyed, whereon would be clearly traced the lines dividing the +different parts, with the name and number of acres of each attached; +while, on the opposite page, he would write down the long and +difficult tables of figures by which these results had been reached. +All this he would execute with as much neatness and accuracy as if it +had been left with him to decide thereby some gravely disputed +land-claim. + +To qualify himself for the management of business affairs upon +reaching the age of manhood, he would copy off into a blank-book every +form or instrument of writing he would meet with; such as deeds, +wills, notes of hand, bills of exchange, receipts, bonds, +land-warrants, &c., &c. And, what was still more remarkable in a boy +of thirteen, he wrote down, under the head of what he called "Rules of +Behavior in Company and Conversation," such wise maxims, and lines of +wholesome advice, as he would pick up from time to time in the course +of his reading or observation, to aid him in forming habits of +industry, politeness, and morality. Some of these rules, your Uncle +Juvinell, with an eye mainly to your well-being, will repeat to you; +for, when but a boy, he got them by heart, well knowing, that, without +some such aid, he would find it hard, if not impossible, to so order +his walks through life as to win and deserve the esteem and confidence +of his fellow-men, as well as the blessing and approbation of his +Maker. And now that he has reached the evening of his days, and is +well assured that the daily observance of these rules has made him a +wiser, a better, and a happier man, he would most earnestly advise all +his friends, great or small, but especially small, be they boys or +girls, to pursue the like course, if they would be favored of Heaven +in the like manner. Here they are:-- + + "1. Every action in company ought to be with some sign of + respect to those present. + + "2. In the presence of others, sing not to yourself with a + humming noise, nor drum with your fingers or feet. + + "3. Speak not when others speak, sit not when others stand, + speak not when you should hold your peace, walk not when others + stop. + + "4. Turn not your back to others, especially in speaking; jog + not the table or desk on which another reads or writes; lean + not on any one. + + "5. Be not a flatterer; neither play with any one that delights + not to be played with. + + "6. Show not yourself glad at the misfortune of another, though + he were your enemy. + + "7. It is good manners to prefer them to whom we speak before + ourselves, especially if they be above us; with whom in no sort + ought we to begin. + + "8. Strive not with your superiors in an argument, but always + submit your judgment to others with modesty. + + "9. Undertake not to teach your equal in the art himself + professes; for it is immodest and presumptuous. + + "10. When a man does all he can, though it succeeds not well, + blame not him that did it. + + "11. Before you advise or find fault with any one, consider + whether it ought to be in public or in private, presently or + at some other time, in what terms to do it; and, in reproving, + show no signs of anger, but do it with sweetness and mildness. + + "12. Take all advice thankfully, in what time or place soever + given; but afterwards, not being blamable, take a time or place + convenient to let him know it that gave it. + + "13. Mock not in jest at any thing of importance: if you + deliver any thing witty and pleasant, abstain from laughing + thereat yourself. + + "14. Wherein you reprove another, be unblamable yourself; for + example is better than precept. + + "15. Use no reproachful language against any one; neither curse + nor revile. + + "16. Be not hasty to believe flying reports to the injury of + any. + + "17. In your apparel, be modest, and endeavor to accommodate + yourself to nature, rather than to procure admiration; keep to + the fashion of your equals, such as are civil and orderly, with + respect to time and places. + + "18. Play not the peacock, looking everywhere about you to see + if you be well decked, if your shoes fit well, if your + pantaloons sit neatly, and clothes handsomely. + + "19. Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem + your reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad + company. + + "20. Let your conversation be without malice or envy, for it is + a sign of a kindly and commendable nature; and, in all causes + of passion, admit reason to govern. + + "21. Be not immodest in urging a friend to make known a secret. + + "22. Utter not base and frivolous things amongst grave and + learned men, nor very difficult questions or subjects among the + ignorant, nor things hard to believe. + + "23. Speak not of doleful things in time of mirth, nor at the + table; speak not of melancholy things, as death and wounds; + and, if others mention them, change, if you can, the discourse. + Tell not your dreams but to your intimate friend. + + "24. Break not a jest, when none take pleasure in mirth; laugh + not loud, nor at all, without occasion; deride no man's + misfortune, though there seem to be some cause. + + "25. Speak not injurious words, neither in jest nor earnest; + scoff at none, although they give occasion. + + "26. Seek not to lessen the merits of others; neither give more + than due praise. + + "27. Go not thither where you know not whether you shall be + welcome. Give not advice without being asked; and, when + desired, do it briefly. + + "28. Reprove not the imperfections of others; for that belongs + to parents, masters, and superiors. + + "29. Gaze not on the marks or blemishes of others, and ask not + how they came. What you may speak in secret to your friend, + deliver not before others. + + "30. Think before you speak; pronounce not imperfectly, nor + bring out your words too hastily, but orderly and distinctly. + + "31. When another speaks, be attentive yourself, and disturb + not the audience. If any hesitate in his words, help him not + nor prompt him without being desired; interrupt him not nor + answer him until his speech be ended. + + "32. Treat with men at right times about business, and whimper + not in the company of others. + + "33. Be not in haste to relate news, if you know not the truth + thereof. + + "34. Be not curious to know the affairs of others; neither + approach those that speak in private. + + "35. Undertake not what you cannot perform, but be careful to + keep your promise. + + "36. When your masters or superiors talk to anybody, hearken + not, nor speak or laugh. + + "37. Speak not evil of the absent; for it is unjust. + + "38. Make no show of taking delight in your victuals; feed not + with greediness; cut your food with a knife, and lean not on + the table; neither find fault with what you eat. + + "39. Be not angry at the table, whatever happens; and, if you + have reason to be so, show it not, but put on a cheerful face, + especially if there be strangers; for good humor makes of one + dish a feast. + + "40. If you speak of God or his attributes, let it be + seriously, in reverence; and honor and obey your parents. + + "41. Let your recreations be manful, not sinful. + + "42. Labor to keep in your breast that little spark of + celestial fire called conscience." + +Now, does it not strike you, my dear children, as being most truly +wonderful that it should have ever entered the mind of a boy of +thirteen to lay down for his own guidance and self-improvement such +rules and principles as these I have just repeated? It certainly must. +And yet when I tell you that he strictly adhered to them through life, +and squared his conduct by them daily, you will, no doubt, think it +quite unreasonable that he could have been other than the good and +great man he was. + +These writings I have mentioned filled several quires of paper; and +together with his business papers, letters, journals, and +account-books, written later in life, and with the same neatness and +precision, are still preserved at Mount Vernon with pious care; and +are even now to be seen by those who go on pilgrimages to that sacred +spot, although, since many of them were penned, more than a hundred +years have come and gone. + +And thus, my children, you have seen young Washington, at an age when +most boys are wasting their precious hours in idle sports, seeking to +acquire those habits of industry, punctuality, and method, which +afterwards enabled him so to economize time and labor as to do with +ease and expedition what others did with difficulty and tardiness. You +have seen him making the best use of the slender means within his +reach for storing his mind with those treasures of knowledge, and +schooling his heart in the daily practice of those exalted virtues, +which, after a life well spent and work well done, make good his title +to the name he bears,--the greatest and the wisest of human kind. + +At last, the day came when George was to leave school for ever; and a +day of sorrow it was to his school-fellows, who parted from him with +many an affectionate wish, and, as we are told, even with tears; so +greatly had he endeared himself to them by his noble disposition, +gentle manners, and earnest desire to do as he would be done by, which +appeared in all his words and actions. In these regrets, Mr. Williams, +his worthy schoolmaster, also shared; and it gave him in after-life, +when his little George had become the great Washington, the most +heartfelt pleasure to say, that it had never been his privilege to +teach another pupil who could at all compare with him for diligence in +application, aptitude in learning, docility of disposition, manly +generosity, courage, and truth. + + + + +V. + +IN THE WILDERNESS. + + +Extending from the Rappahannock to the Potomac, and stretching away +beyond the Blue Ridge far into the Alleghany Mountains, there lay at +this time an immense tract of forest land, broken only here and there +by a little clearing, in the midst of which stood the rude log-cabin +of some hardy backwoodsman. This large body of land--the largest, +indeed, ever owned by any one man in Virginia--was the property of a +great English nobleman named Lord Fairfax, an old bachelor of +eccentric habits and strange opinions, but of a highly cultivated +understanding, and, when it so pleased him, of polite and elegant +address. His stature was lofty,--far above that of the common run of +men. He was a keen sportsman, had a fund of whimsical humor, and, in +his odd way, showed himself possessed of a kindly and generous heart; +sometimes making a tenant or poor friend the present of a large farm, +without requiring any thing in return but a haunch of venison or a fat +wild turkey for his next Christmas dinner. + +Having heard that settlements were being made in the most fertile +valleys of his wild domain, he had lately come over from the +mother-country to inquire into the matter, and make suitable provision +against any future encroachments of the kind upon his rights. He now +beheld his forest possessions for the first time; and so charmed was +he with the wild beauty of the scenery, and so won over by enticing +visions of fishing and hunting, conjured up by the sight of the waving +woods and running streams, that he resolved to leave his native land +for ever, and take up his abiding-place for the rest of his days amid +those leafy solitudes. Accordingly, he betook himself, with all his +negro servants (numbering one hundred and fifty), and a few white +dependants, to the beautiful Valley of the Shenandoah, lying between +the Blue Ridge and the Alleghany Mountains; where he soon cleared a +large plantation, and built thereon a house, to which he gave the name +of Greenway Court. + +From that time forward, this became his fixed abode; but, as he had +more land than a thousand men could put to any good use, he was quite +willing to dispose of all, except what lay for a few miles immediately +around Greenway Court, at reasonable rates, to such honest persons as +were willing to buy it and make it their future home. But, in order +that no misunderstanding might arise hereafter between the parties +concerned with respect to the boundary-line and number of acres +bought and sold, it was necessary, in the first place, to have the +land surveyed, and divided into lots of convenient sizes for farms. + +Now, you must know that, old Lord Fairfax was a distant relative of +Mrs. Lawrence Washington, and had, as a natural consequence, often met +our George at Mount Vernon; and so struck was he with the manly +bearing, high character, good sense, and mathematical skill, of the +fair-haired, blue-eyed youth, that he offered him, young as he was, +the place of surveyor of all his vast lands. Being the son of a +widowed mother, and earnestly desirous of aiding her all in his power, +and earning for himself an honest independence, George was but too +happy to accept of the offer; and the necessary arrangements were soon +made. Having provided himself with all things needful for the new +enterprise,--such as a horse, a rifle, a blanket, and a steel chain +and compass,--he set out, at the head of a small party of hunters and +backwoodsmen, upon this his first considerable field of labor, early +in the spring of 1748, just one month from the completion of his +sixteenth year. + +They were soon, in the depths of the wilderness, miles beyond the most +distant frontier settlements. The snows of winter that still lingered +on the mountains, warmed by the softer airs of early spring, had +melted so rapidly of late as to swell the forest streams to a degree +that rendered their fording often difficult, and even sometimes +dangerous. Now and then, coming to a stream which had overflowed its +banks, the little party would be obliged to construct a raft of logs, +roughly lashed together with grape-vines, upon which they could push +to the opposite side, without getting their baggage wet, and, at the +same time, compel their horses to swim along behind. Their way was +often obstructed by the trunks and branches of fallen trees, thickets +tangled and dense and thorny, huge and rugged rocks, and treacherous +swamps, covered with long, green grass, into which the horses, +stepping unawares, would suddenly plunge up to the saddle-girths in +water and mire. + +For some time, they lodged in wigwams or huts, rudely framed of poles, +and covered with the bark of trees; which served the purpose well +enough when the weather was dry and still, but were often beaten down +and overturned by the winds and rains when their shelter was most +needed. After two or three of these rickety shanties had been tumbled +about their heads, to the no small risk of life or limb, they wisely +concluded to abandon them, and sleep in the open air, with the +twinkling stars above them, the gray old trees around them, and the +damp, cold ground beneath them, with nothing between but their good +blankets, and the dead, dry leaves of autumn heaped together; and +lucky was he who got the place nearest the fire, or could put the +mossy trunk of a fallen tree between him and the biting blast, or, +better still, could boast a bearskin for his bed. A little before +sunset, they would halt for the night in some sheltered spot, +convenient to a running stream; where, turning their horses loose to +graze till morning, they would build a cheerful fire of the dry +brushwood close at hand, and prepare their evening meal, which they +would eat with a keenness of appetite known only to the tired and +hungry hunter. Each man was his own cook; their food consisting +chiefly of venison and wild turkey their rifles procured them, and +fish drawn from the neighboring brook, which they would broil on the +glowing coals, fastened to a forked stick instead of a spit, and then +eat it from a maple chip, instead of a dish. If the season permitted +them to add to this a hatful of berries that grew on the sunny side of +the hill, or acorns from the mountain-oak, or nuts from the +hickory-tree, or, more delicious still, plums, persimmons, and +pawpaws, that grew in the more open parts of the woods, they made of +it a dainty feast indeed. + +Now and then, in the course of this rambling life in the wilderness, +they met with roving bands of skin-clad Indians, either as warriors +out upon the war-path against some distant tribe, or as hunters +roaming the forest in quest of game. One evening, late, as our little +party of surveyors were about to encamp for the night, they spied +through the trees the glimmering light of a large fire on the top of a +far-off hill. Curious to know who, besides themselves, could be in +that lonely place, they determined to go thither before stopping; and, +guided by the light, reached ere long the spot, where they found a +small squad of Indian hunters, resting themselves after the fatigues +of the day's chase. They seemed to be in high good humor, as if the +hunt had gone well with them that day; and, being in this mood, +extended a true Indian welcome to the new-comers; setting before them, +with open-handed hospitality, heaps of parched corn, and their +choicest bits of venison, wild turkey, bear's meat, and fish. Supper +ended, the pipe of peace and good-will passed from mouth to mouth, as +a pledge that all should go on well between them; after which the +Indians, for the further entertainment of their white guests, and as a +more marked manner of showing their respect, set about preparing +themselves for a war-dance. + +In the first place, they cleared the ground around the fire of chunks +and brushwood, and other obstructions that might hinder the free play +of their feet and legs in the performance. Then the two musicians +began to put in order and tune their instruments: that is to say, one +of them filled a camp-kettle half full of water, over which he tightly +stretched a raw-hide, and, tapping it twice or thrice with a stick, +drew forth a hollow, smothered sound therefrom, by way of giving to +those not in the secret a hint that this was to be their drum; while +the other made a rattle by putting a few bullets or pebbles into a +hard, dry gourd of monstrous size, to the handle of which he fastened +a horse's tail, not so much to improve its tone perhaps, as to give it +a more finished appearance. + +These simple preparations soon completed, a tall warrior, grimly +painted as if for battle, advanced a few paces into the circle, and, +squatting upon his haunches, fixed his eyes for several moments with a +hard, stony look upon nothing whatever, till the first tap of the drum +and the first jerk of the rattle, when he suddenly leaped up, with a +deafening yell that made the old woods ring again, and began capering +about in the most astonishing manner, causing such a commotion among +the dry leaves and dead twigs as made it appear that a little +whirlwind had all at once been let loose among them. Another soon +followed, and got up a similar sensation among the dry leaves and dead +twigs on his own private account; while a third, springing into the +circle, did the same; and so on, until at last the whole party were +hot in the dance. Some brandished their scalping-knives, some +flourished their tomahawks, some waved aloft the scalps of their +enemies taken in battle; all yelling the while, and all making +horrible faces. And warmer and warmer they waxed in the dance, and +round and round they went; now up in the air, now down on the ground; +jumping and kicking, yelping and barking, spinning and whirling, +yelling and howling, like a pack of hobgoblins and imps on a spree. +The hollow woods gave back the barbarous din in a thousand +obstreperous echoes; and afar off, from the depths of the lonely +forest glens, might have been heard, had not the attention of the +spectators been otherwise engaged, the answering howl of the hungry +wolves. + +After some time spent in this outlandish amusement, without any +previous notice whatever, plump down they sat, and, in a minute, were +smoking their pipes with as much gravity and composure as if they had +just come in from a gentle promenade with their wives and children +along the banks of a smooth and tranquil river. It was a sight, once +seen, never to be forgotten. At first, George and his friends had +looked on with open-eyed amazement; but, before the dance was ended, +the whole scene appeared to them so comical, that they had need of all +their self-control to keep a sober countenance, so as not to give +offence to their savage entertainers. + + + + +VI. + +THE YOUNG SURVEYOR. + + +It was a glorious region of stately woods, fertile valleys, clear +running streams, and lofty mountains, where our young surveyor, with +the exception of the winter months, spent the next three years of his +life. At first, not being accustomed to such severe privations and +exposure, it had gone rather hard with him: but he soon became inured +to them; and it was, no doubt, to this rough experience in the +wilderness, that he owed, in large measure, his uncommon vigor and +activity of body, and that firm reliance on the resources of his own +mind, which enabled him to endure and overcome those hardships, +trials, and difficulties which beset him throughout the greater +portion of his after-life. This severe training was also of another +advantage to him, in making him perfectly familiar with all that +region, in whose dark retreats and rugged wilds he learned, a few +years later, his first hard lessons in the art of war. + +With all its privations, it was a life he loved to lead; for it +afforded him the means of an independent support: and a happy boy was +he, when first he wrote his mother that he was earning from fifteen +to twenty dollars for every day he worked. Besides this, the beauty +and grandeur of Nature's works, everywhere visible around him, +awakened in him feelings of the truest delight; and he would sometimes +spend the better part of a summer's day in admiring the tall and +stately trees, whose spreading branches were his only shelter from the +dews of heaven, and heat of noonday. At night, after supper, when his +companions would be talking over the adventures of the day just past, +or laughing boisterously at some broad joke repeated for the hundredth +time, or would be joining their voices in the chorus of some rude +woodland song, our young surveyor would be sitting a little apart on +the trunk of a fallen tree, pencil and paper before him, calculating +with a grave countenance, and by the ruddy light of a blazing +pine-knot, the results of the day's labor. With no other companionship +than that of the wild Indians he fell in with from time to time, and +the rude, unlettered hunters around him, he must needs turn for +society to the thoughts that stirred within his own mind. Often would +he withdraw himself from the noisy mirth of his companions, and, +climbing to some lofty mountain-top, spend hours and hours rapt in the +contemplation of the wild and varied region, smiling in life and +beauty far, far beneath him. At such times, we can imagine his +countenance lit up with a sacred joy, and his soul rising in praise +and thanksgiving to the great Father, who, in love and wisdom, made +this glorious world for the good and happiness of all that dwell +therein. + +Now and then, for the sake of a refreshing change, he would leave the +wilderness behind him, with all its toils and dangers, and betake him +to Greenway Court, the woodland home of old Lord Fairfax, with whom he +had become a great favorite, and was ever a welcome guest. Here he +would spend a few weeks in the most agreeable manner you can well +imagine; for the old lord, being a man of some learning and extensive +reading, had collected, in the course of a long life, a large library +of the best and rarest books, from which, during these three years, +George derived great pleasure and much valuable information. Besides +this, a keener fox-hunter than this odd old bachelor was not to be +found in all the Old Dominion; and, for the full enjoyment of this +sport, he always kept a pack of hounds of the purest English blood. At +the first peep of dawn, the cheerful notes of the hunter's horn, and +the deep-mouthed baying of the fox-hounds, filling the neighboring +woods with their lively din, would call our young surveyor from his +slumbers to come and join in the sports of the morning. Waiting for no +second summons, he would be up and out in a trice, and mounted by the +side of the merry old lord; when, at a signal wound on the bugle, the +whole party would dash away, pell-mell, helter-skelter, over the hills +and through the woods, up the hills and down them again, across the +brooks and along the winding river; hunters and horses hard on the +heels of the hounds, hounds hard on the heels of poor Renard, and poor +Renard cutting, cutting away for dear life. + +During the three years thus employed, George made his home at Mount +Vernon, it being nearer and more convenient to his field of labor; +but, as often as his business would permit, he would go on a visit to +his mother at the old homestead on the Rappahannock, whither, as I +should have told you before now, his father had removed when he was +but three or four years old. These were precious opportunities, ever +improved by him, of extending to her that aid in the management of her +family affairs, which to receive from him was her greatest pleasure, +as well as his truest delight to give. + +About this time, he formed a habit of writing down in a diary or +day-book such facts and observations as seemed to him worthy of note, +by which means he would be enabled to fix firmly in his mind whatever +might prove of use to him at a future day. This is a most excellent +habit; and I would earnestly advise all young persons, desirous of +increasing their stock of knowledge, to form it as soon as they begin +the study of grammar and can write a good round hand. The following is +a specimen of this diary, written by him at the age of sixteen, as you +will see by the date therein given:-- + + "March 13th, 1748.--Rode to his lordship's (Lord Fairfax's) + quarter. About four miles higher up the Shenandoah, we went + through most beautiful groves of sugar-trees, and spent the + better part of the day in admiring the trees and richness of + the land. + + "14th.--We sent our baggage to Capt. Hite's, near Fredericktown; + and went ourselves down the river about sixteen miles (the + land exceedingly rich all the way, producing abundance of + grain, hemp, and tobacco), in order to lay off some land on + Cole's Marsh and Long Marsh. + + "15th.--Worked hard till night, and then returned. After + supper, we were lighted into a room; and I, not being so good a + woodsman as the rest, stripped myself very orderly, and went + into the bed, as they called it; when, to my surprise, I found + it to be nothing but a little straw matted together, without + sheet or any thing else, but only one threadbare blanket, with + double its weight of vermin, I was glad to get up and put on my + clothes, and lie as my companions did. Had we not been very + tired, I am sure we should not have slept much that night. I + made a promise to sleep so no more; choosing rather to sleep in + the open air, before a fire. + + "18th.--We travelled to Thomas Berwick's on the Potomac, where + we found the river exceedingly high, by reason of the great + rains that had fallen among the Alleghanies. They told us it + would not be fordable for several days; it being now six feet + higher than usual, and rising. We agreed to stay till Monday. + We this day called to see the famed Warm Springs. We camped out + in the field this night. + + "20th.--Finding the river not much abated, we in the evening + swam our horses over to the Maryland side. + + "21st.--We went over in a canoe, and travelled up the Maryland + side all day, in a continued rain, to Col. Cresap's, over + against the mouth of the South Branch, about forty miles from + the place of starting in the morning, and over the worst road, + I believe, that ever was trod by man or beast." + +In this diary, he also entered such items as these,--the number of +acres of each lot of land surveyed, the quality of the soil, the +growth of plants and trees, the height of the hills, the extent of the +valleys, and the length, breadth, and course of the streams. From the +items thus collected, he would draw the materials for the reports it +was his duty to submit, from time to time, for examination, to his +patron or employer; and such was the clearness, brevity, and exactness +displayed therein, and such the industry, skill, and fidelity with +which he performed his toilsome and difficult task, that the generous +old lord not only rewarded him handsomely for his services, but +continued to cherish for him through life a truly fatherly affection. + +In after-years, Washington was wont to turn with peculiar fondness to +this period of his life, as perhaps affording the only leisure he had +ever known for sentimental musings, and the indulgence of what fancy +he may have had in those bright visions of future happiness, fame, or +enterprise; to which all men are more or less given during the +immature years of youth. This, to my mind, is to be easily enough +accounted for, if we but ascribe it to a certain little circumstance; +concerning which, as it exercised no small influence on his mind at +the time, I will now tell you all that is known, and, it may be, more +than ever can be known with possible certainty. + +From a letter written by him at the age of fifteen, and also from some +sad and plaintive verses of his own composition found in his +copy-book, we learn that the boy, who should grow to become the +greatest man that ever made this glorious world of ours more glorious +with his wise precepts and virtuous example, was at this time a victim +of the tender passion called _love_, of which most of you little folks +as yet know nothing but the four letters that spell the word. + +The object of this early attachment was a damsel, of whom nothing +certain is known, as her name, from the fact of its never being +repeated above a whisper, has not come down to our day, but who was +called by him in his confidential correspondence the Lowland Beauty. +As he had none of that self-assurance which lads of his age are apt to +mistake for pluck or spirit, he never ventured to make known the +secret of this passion to the object thereof; and it is probable, that +we, even at the big end of a hundred years, are wiser as to this +tender passage of his life than was ever the young lady herself. Not +having the courage to declare the sentiments that warmed his breast, +he wisely resolved to banish them from his mind altogether; and this, +I will venture to say, was one reason why he so readily accepted of +old Lord Fairfax's offer, and was willing for so long a time to make +his abiding-place in the wilderness. But it was months, and even +years, before he could get the better of his weakness, if such it +could be justly called; for a wilderness, let me tell you (and I hope +the hint will not be lost on my little friends), is the last place in +the world, that a man, or a boy either, should take to, as the +readiest means of ridding himself of such troublesome feelings. No +wonder, then, that our young surveyor was grave and thoughtful beyond +his years; and that the lonely forest, with its ever-changing beauties +and wild seclusion, viewed through the bewitched eyes of love, should +have had greater charms for him than the noisy, bustling haunts of +men. That you may have a more distinct idea of the appearance of +Washington at the time of which we are speaking, your Uncle Juvinell +will conjure up, from the lingering lights and shadows of his dull old +fancy, a little picture, to be gilded anew by your bright young +fancies, and hung up in that loftiest chamber of your memory which you +are wont to adorn with your portraits of the good and great men and +women who have blessed the earth, and of whom we love so much to read +and hear. + +It is a summer morning, and the eastern mountains fling their shadows +long and huge across the lonesome valleys. Our little party of +surveyors, having spent the night on the summits of one of the less +lofty peaks of the Blue Ridge, are slowly descending its shrubby skies +to the more densely wooded parts of the wilderness below, of whose +waste fertility many a broad tract have they yet to explore, and many +a mile of boundary-line have chain and compass yet to measure and +determine. Still lingering on the summit far above, as loath to quit +the contemplation of the splendid prospect seen from thence, stands a +tall youth of eighteen, with his right arm thrown across his horse's +neck, and his left hand grasping his compass-staff. He is clad in a +buckskin hunting-shirt, with leggins and moccasons of the same +material,--the simple garb of a backwoodsman, and one that well +becomes him now, as in perfect keeping with the wildness of the +surrounding scenery; while in his broad leathern belt are stuck his +long hunting-knife and Indian tomahawk. In stature he is much above +most youths of the same age: he is of a handsome and robust form, with +high and strong but smooth features, light-brown hair, large blue +eyes,--not brilliant, but beaming with a clear and steady light, as if +a soul looked through them that knew no taint of vice or +meanness,--and a countenance all glorious with a truth and courage, +modest gentleness, and manly self-reliance; and as he thus lingers on +that lonely mountain-height, glorified as it were with the fresh pure +light of the newly risen sun, with head uncovered and looks reverent, +he seems in holy communion with his Maker, to whom, in the tender, +guileless years of childhood, a pious mother taught him to kneel, +morning and evening, in prayer, thanksgiving, and adoration. + +Anon, his morning devotions ended, he turns to take, ere following his +companions down the mountain, another view of the varied panorama +spread out far beneath him, the chief feature of which is a valley, +surpassing in beauty and fertility any that that summer's sun will +shine on ere reaching his golden gateway in the west. Through this +valley, glimmering, half seen, half hid among the waving woods, runs a +river, with many a graceful bend, so beautiful, that, in the far-away +years of the past, some long-forgotten tribe of Indians called it +Shenandoah, or Shining Daughter of the Stars; a name that still +lingers like a sweet echo among the mountains. And as the eyes of the +young surveyor slowly range the wide prospect from point to point, and +take in miles and miles of beauty at a single stretch of view, there +is a look in them as if he would recall some pleasing dream of the +night, which he would now fain bring forth, though but a dream, to +refine and elevate the thoughts wherewith his mind must needs be +occupied throughout the day. He is familiar with every feature of the +landscape before him: he knows each shady dell and sunny hill, and +every grassy slope and winding stream; for there he has made his home +this many a day. He has seen it all a thousand times, and each time +with renewed delight. But now it has a glory not all its own, nor +borrowed from the morning sun, but from the first warm light of +youthful love that burns in his heart for his Lowland Beauty. + + + + +VII. + +FIRST MILITARY APPOINTMENT. + + +About this time, the Indians inhabiting that vast region extending +from the Ohio River to the great lakes of the north, secretly +encouraged and aided by the French, began to show signs of hostility, +and threatened the western borders of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New +York, with all the dismal horrors of their bloody and wasting warfare. +The alarm spread rapidly from the frontier even to the Atlantic coast, +till the whole country was awakened to the sense of the impending +danger. + +To put the Province of Virginia in a better posture of defence, the +governor thereof, Robert Dinwiddie, besides other measures, divided it +into four grand military districts. Over each of these he placed what +is called an adjutant-general, whose duty it was to organize and train +the militia, instruct the officers in matters touching the art and +science of war, to review the different companies when on parade, and +to inspect their arms and accoutrements, and see that they were kept +ready for use at a moment's warning. + +The energy, fidelity, and soundness of judgment, that young Washington +had lately shown while acting as surveyor, had won for him a name in +the colony; and, becoming known to Governor Dinwiddie, he was +appointed by that gentleman adjutant-general of the Northern district; +receiving along with his commission the rank of major, which entitled +him to the salary of seven hundred and fifty dollars a year. You have +already seen what great delight he took in martial exercises when a +school-boy; and, now that he was to become a soldier in the true sense +of the term, you will not be surprised to learn that this appointment +was altogether agreeable to his present taste and inclinations. To +show his deep sense of the honor done him, and the trust and +confidence reposed in him, he determined to perform his work well and +faithfully as far as in him lay. + +The better to qualify himself for the duties of his office, he placed +himself under the instruction of his brother Lawrence, and other +officers living in that part of the province, who had served under +Admiral Vernon during the late Spanish war. These gentlemen, besides +giving him the benefit of their experience and observation, placed in +his hands the best works on military science then in use; from which +he learned the various modes of training militia, the different +manoeuvres of an army on the field of battle, and their management +while on the line of march, together with the most approved plans of +building forts, throwing up intrenchments and redoubts, and the +construction of other works of defence, whether of wood or earth or +stone. At the same time, he also made himself acquainted with the +handling and design of many weapons and engines of war; and under the +instruction of Capt. Van Braam, a Dutch fencing-master, he became very +skilful in the use of the sword. Thus Mount Vernon, from being the +quiet mansion of a country gentleman, was now, in a manner, converted +into a military school; and the youth, who but a few years before, as +he strolled among its verdant retreats, had, in honor of his Lowland +Beauty, made his first and only attempt of putting his thoughts and +feelings in verse, was, at the early age of nineteen, called upon to +discharge those stern duties which men of age and experience alone are +generally thought able to perform. The district allotted to Major +Washington (for so we must now call him) consisted of several large +counties, each of which the duties of his office obliged him to visit +from time to time; and such was the energy and spirit he carried into +his work, and such ability did he display, and such was the manliness +and dignified courtesy with which he deported himself on all +occasions, that he soon completely won the confidence and affections +of both officers and men, who were inspired by his example to still +greater zeal and patriotism in the service of their country. + +But these labors, so agreeable to one of his age and ardent spirit, +were now interrupted for several months. His brother Lawrence, who +had always been of a delicate constitution, was now thought to be in +the last stages of consumption, and was advised by his physicians to +betake himself to the West Indies, where he might yet, perhaps, find +some relief in the warmer suns and milder airs of those beautiful +islands. As he would have need of cheerful company and gentle and +careful nursing, he took with him his favorite brother George; and, +embarking from Alexandria, was soon out upon the shining billows of +the deep-blue sea, in quest of that health he was never again to find. +Their place of destination was the charming little Island of +Barbadoes, where, after a somewhat stormy voyage, they arrived in +safety. + +While here, Major Washington had an attack of small-pox, which handled +him rather severely; and for some time he was thought to be in a +dangerous condition. But in a few weeks, by dint of careful nursing, +joined to the natural vigor of his constitution, he got the better of +this frightful malady; and, when he was completely restored, not a +disfiguring trace of it remained. + +During his sojourn here, he still continued his habit of writing down +in a journal whatever of importance or interest came under his +observation; in which, among other items, we find such as the +following,--the speed of the ship in which they sailed; the direction +of the winds; some account of a storm that overtook them on their +voyage; the cities, ships, forts, and military strength of the Island +of Barbadoes; its products; manners and customs of the people, and the +laws and government under which they lived. By this means, +contributing as it did to habits of close and accurate observation, he +impressed the more strongly upon his memory such facts as might prove +of use to him at a future day. + +Our two Virginians, during the three or four months of their stay on +the island, were treated with much courtesy and hospitality by the +inhabitants. But neither the genial climate of the region, nor the +kindly hospitality of the people, was enough to restore that health +and strength to the invalid for which he had come so far and hoped so +long. + +Feeling that his end was drawing nigh, Lawrence Washington resolved to +hasten home, that he might have the melancholy satisfaction of +spending his last moments in the midst of his family and friends. He +had scarcely returned to Mount Vernon, and bid a fond farewell to the +loved ones there, when the angel of death summoned him to take another +and a longer voyage, in quest of immortality, to be found in the +islands of the blest, that smile in never-fading beauty on the bosom +of the eternal sea. + +Thus, at the early age of thirty-four, died Lawrence Washington, one +of the most amiable and accomplished gentlemen of his day. He left +behind him an affectionate wife, a sweet little daughter, a devoted +brother, and many a loving friend, to mourn his loss. In his will, he +bequeathed his fine estate of Mount Vernon and all else that he +possessed to his brother George; on condition, however, that his wife +should have the use of it during her lifetime, and that his daughter +should die without children to inherit it. The daughter did not reach +the years of maidenhood; and, the mother surviving but a few years, +George was left in the undivided possession of a large and handsome +property; and, in a worldly point of view, his fortune was really +already made. But, for all that, he long and deeply mourned the death +of this much loved and valued brother, who had been to him father and +friend ever since that first great sorrow of his childhood, when he +became a widow's son and a widow's blessing. + +And thus, my little children, I have told you the story of this great +and good man's life from his years of infancy up to those of early +manhood. I have dwelt at greater length upon this period of his life +than perhaps any other historian, and have told you some things that +you might look for elsewhere in vain. In my treatment of this part of +the subject, it has been my chief aim and earnest desire to impress +upon your opening minds this one great truth,--that, if you would be +good and wise in your manhood, you must begin, now in early youth, to +put forth all your powers, and use all the means within your reach, to +store your mind with useful knowledge, and direct your thoughts and +actions in the ways of truth and virtue, industry and sobriety. The +boy Washington did all this; and, ere we have done, you shall see the +glorious results of such a good beginning. Be like him in your +youth,--patient and diligent, loving and dutiful, truthful and +prayerful; that you may be like him in the fulness of years,--esteemed +and beloved, happy and good, useful and wise. + + + + +VIII. + +IMPORTANT EXPLANATIONS. + + +When Uncle Juvinell had finished this part of his story, he paused, +and with a beaming face looked round upon his little circle of +listeners. Two or three of the youngest had long since fallen asleep; +and Master Ned, having heard the story of the little hatchet, had +stolen quietly away to the cabin, just to see how "black daddy" was +getting along with his sled. Having waited till it was finished, he +had, for his own private amusement, taken it to a nice hillside, and +was now coasting on it all alone by the light of a good-humored, +dish-faced moon. The other children had listened with great interest +and attention to the story, and were still sitting with their eyes +bent earnestly on the fire, whose great bright eye had by this time +grown a little red, and was winking in a slow and sleepy way, as if it +were saying, "Well done, Uncle Juvinell,--very well done indeed. I +have been listening very attentively, and quite approve of all you +have said, especially all that about the wooden-legged schoolmaster, +the little hatchet, the sorrel horse, the Indian war-dance, and the +Lowland Beauty, not to mention those wise maxims and wholesome moral +precepts you brought in so aptly. All of it is very fine and very +good, and just to my liking. But I am thinking it is high bed-time for +these little folks." + +Uncle Juvinell was much gratified to see how deeply interested the +children were in what he had been telling them; and in a little while +he called upon them to let him know how they all liked it. Laura said +that it was very nice; Ella, that it was charming; Daniel, that it was +quite as interesting as Plutarch's Lives; Willie, that it was even +more so than "Robinson Crusoe;" and Bryce, that it was very good, but +he would have liked it better had Uncle Juvinell told them more about +the Indians. Just then, Master Charlie awoke from a comfortable nap of +an hour or two, having dropped asleep shortly after the sorrel horse +dropped dead; and, to make believe that he had been as wide awake as a +weasel from the very start, began asking such a string of questions as +seemed likely to have no end. After a droll jumbling of Washington +with Jack the Giant-killer, old Lord Fairfax with Bluebeard, poor old +Hobby, the wooden-legged schoolmaster, with the Roving Red Robber, he +at last so far got the better of his sleepy senses as to know what he +would be driving at; when he said, "Uncle Juvinell, did his father let +him keep his little hatchet after he had cut the cherry-tree?" + +"History, my little nephew," replied his uncle with a sober +countenance, "does not inform us whether he did or not; but you may be +quite sure that he did, well knowing that a little boy who would +choose rather to take a whipping than tell a lie, or suffer another to +be punished for an offence he had himself committed, would never be +guilty the second time of doing that wherein he had once been +forbidden." + +"What became of black Jerry after he turned a somerset in the snow, +and went rolling over and over down the hill?" Charlie went on. + +"Jerry, I am happy to say," replied his uncle, "was so won over by the +kindness and noble self-devotion of his brave little master, that he +made up his mind to mend his ways from that very moment; and in a +short time, from having been the worst, became the best behaved +negroling to be found on either side of the Rappahannock, for more +than a hundred miles up and down." + +"What is a negroling?" inquired Master Charlie, as if bent on sifting +this matter to the very bottom. + +"A negroling," replied Uncle Juvinell with a smile, "is to a +full-grown negro what a gosling is to a full-grown goose. Now, can you +tell me what it is?" + +"A gosling negro, I suppose," was Charlie's answer; and then he asked, +"Did old Hobby go on teaching school after little George left him?" + +"Of course he did," answered his uncle; "but, you may depend upon it, +he never took another scholar as far as the single rule of three." +Then, winking slyly at two or three of the older children, he +continued: "This worthy schoolmaster lived to the good old age of +ninety-nine; when, feeling that his earthly pilgrimage was drawing to +a close, he for the last time hung up his big cocked hat on the +accustomed peg, and for the last time unscrewed his wooden, leg, and +set it in its accustomed corner; then, like a good Christian, laid him +down to die in peace, giving thanks to Heaven with his last breath +that it had fallen to his lot to teach the great George Washington his +A B C's and the multiplication-table." + +This made Master Charlie look very grave and thoughtful, so that he +asked no more questions for the rest of the night. + +Then Daniel, the young historian, who, having his mind occupied with +more weighty matters, had been listening with some impatience while +the above confab was going on, begged that his uncle would tell him +what was meant by a midshipman's warrant. + +"In the first place, Dannie," said Uncle Juvinell, "for the benefit of +the rest of the children, who are not so well informed upon such +matters as yourself, we must see what a midshipman is. The lowest +officer in the navy, but still several degrees removed from a common +sailor, is a midshipman, who enters a man-of-war as a kind of pupil +to study the art of navigation, and to acquaint himself with other +matters connected with the seafaring life. A man-of-war, you must +know, is the largest vessel, or ship of war, belonging to a nation; +while all the ships fitted out at the public expense, together with +the officers and seamen concerned in their keeping and management, +make up what is called a navy. By navigation, we are to understand the +art by which sailors are taught to conduct ships from one point to +another. Now, a warrant is a writing that gives some one the right to +do a thing or to enjoy it. Thus you see a midshipman's warrant would +have given young Washington the right to go on board a man-of-war, +where, as a kind of pupil, he would have learned the art of +navigation, the management of ships, and many other things necessary +to make a good sailor. The knowledge thus acquired, and the training +to which he must needs have been subjected, would have fitted him in +time to become an officer of the navy, such as a lieutenant or a +captain, and, it may be, even an admiral." + +"And what is an admiral?" inquired Willie. + +"An admiral," replied Uncle Juvinell, "is the highest officer of the +navy; he is to the armies of the sea what a general is to the armies +of the land, and commands a squadron, or fleet, which, you must know, +is a large number of armed ships, moving and acting in concert +together." + +"Does he fight with a sword?" inquired Bryce, who, it must be borne in +mind, was the military young gentleman, who carried a wooden sword of +his own. + +"It is unusual," replied his uncle, "for either an admiral or a +general to fight in person; it being their duty to put their armies in +order of battle, and afterwards, during the fight, to control the +movements of the different regiments or divisions by orders carried by +aides to the officers under their command." + +"You told us, uncle," said Willie, "that Washington received, along +with the commission of adjutant-general, the rank of major. Now, what +are we to understand by this?" + +"A commission," replied his uncle, "is a writing, giving some one the +right or authority to perform the duties of some office, and receive +the pay and honors arising from the same. The duties of an +adjutant-general you have already seen; and the commission received by +young Washington to perform those duties made him equal in rank, not +to a general, but to a major." + +"I know you told us, uncle," said Ella, "what is meant by surveying; +but I don't think that I clearly understand it yet." + +"I will refer you to your brother Dannie," said Uncle Juvinell; "for +he is looking very wise, as if somebody knew a thing or two, and +could, were he but called upon, greatly enlighten somebody else. Out +with it, Dannie, and let us have it." + +"Surveying teaches the measurement of land," Dannie made haste to +answer; "and a surveyor is one who measures land with the help of a +long chain and compass and other instruments. Now, George Washington, +for example"-- + +"That will do, Daniel," said his uncle, interrupting him: "you have +made it as clear as daylight already; and I dare say your sister +understands you perfectly, without the help of any example." + +"Oh, I like to have forgotten one thing!" cried Willie. "Tell us what +is meant by line of march, manoeuvres on the battle-field, throwing +up intrenchments, and the like." + +To these points, Uncle Juvinell made answer: "An army, my nephew, is +said to be on the line of march when it is moving from one place to +another. A manoeuvre is an evolution or a movement of an army, +designed to mislead or deceive an enemy, or in some way to gain the +advantage of him. An intrenchment is a breastwork or wall, with a +trench or ditch running along the outside. The breastwork, being +formed of the earth thrown up from the trench, serves as a protection +against the shots of an enemy. The trench being quite as deep as the +breastwork is high, renders it very difficult and dangerous for the +works to be taken by storm; for the enemy must first descend into the +ditch before he can reach and scale the wall,--an attempt always +attended with the greatest peril to those who make it; for they who +defend the works, fighting on top of the walls, have greatly the +advantage of those beneath. Sometimes intrenchments run in straight or +crooked lines, and sometimes enclose an irregular square or circle; +and any piece of ground, or body of men, thus enclosed or fortified, +is said to be intrenched." + +"What a pity it is we can never know the name of the Lowland Beauty!" +remarked Miss Laura regretfully; for she was getting to be quite old +enough to be somewhat interested in matters of this kind. + +"The name the young surveyor gave her," said Uncle Juvinell, "lends an +interest to this part of his life, which a knowledge of her true name +might never have awakened. Besides this, my dear niece, if you but be +attentive to what I shall relate hereafter, you will learn many things +touching the life and character of his mother Mary and his wife Martha +far more worthy of your remembrance." + +The clock struck ten; the fire burned low, and a heavy lid of ashes +hid its great red eye. And now Uncle Juvinell bethought him that it +must indeed be high bed-time for the little folks; and in conclusion +he said, "Now, my dear children, I want you to bear well in mind what +I have told you to-night, that you may be the better prepared for what +I shall tell you to-morrow evening. And hereafter I would have you +write down on your slates, while I go on with my story, whatever you +may find difficult and shall wish to have more fully explained at the +end of each evening's lesson. And now let us sing our evening hymn, +and part for the night." + +With that they joined their voices, as was their wont, in a sweet hymn +of praise and thanks to the great Father of us all,--the little folks +carrying the treble, while Uncle Juvinell managed the bass. This duly +done, they came one by one, and kissed their dear old uncle a loving +good-night; then crept to their happy beds to dream till morning of +wooden-legged schoolmasters, little hatchets, wild rides on fiery +untamed horses that were always sorrel, of life in the lonely +wilderness, rambles without end up and down the mountains, and of +skin-clad Indiana leaping and whirling in the war-dance. + + + + +IX. + +INDIAN TROUBLES. + + +And now, said Uncle Juvinell, I see you are all agog, slate and pencil +in hand, ready to jot down any question that may chance to pop into +your busy young brains, to be asked and answered, for our further +enlightenment, at the end of our evening lesson. So, without more ado, +we will begin. + +But, before trudging on further in our delightful journey, we must +pause a moment, and turning square round, with our faces towards the +long-ago years of the past, take a bird's-eye view of the early +history of our country, that we may know exactly where we are when we +come to find ourselves in the outskirts of that long and bloody +struggle between the two great nations of England and France, commonly +called the Seven Years' War, and sometimes the Old French War. Now, +although this would not be as entertaining to your lively fancies as +an Arabian tale or an Indian legend, yet you will by and by see very +plainly that we could not have skipped it, without losing the sense of +a great deal that follows; for it was during this war that our +Washington first experienced the trials and hardships of a soldier's +life, and displayed that courage, prudence, and ability, which in the +end proved the salvation and glory of his native country. + +In the first place, you must know, my dear children, that this +beautiful land of ours, where now dwell the freest and happiest people +the blessed sun ever shone upon, was, only a few hundred years ago, +all a vast unbroken wilderness; a place where no one but savage +Indians found a home, whose chief amusement was to fight and kill and +scalp each other; and whose chief occupation was to hunt wild beasts +and birds, upon whose flesh they fed, and with whose hairy skins and +horns and claws and feathers they clothed and decked themselves. Where +in the leafy summer-time may now be heard the merry plough-boy +whistling "Yankee Doodle" over the waving corn, the wild Indian once +wrestled with the surly bear, or met his ancient enemy in deadly +fight. Nibbling sheep and grazing cattle now range the grassy hills +and valleys where he was wont to give chase to the timid deer, or lie +in wait for the monstrous buffalo. Huge steamers ply up and down our +mighty rivers where he once paddled his little canoe. Splendid cities +have risen, as if at the rubbing of Aladdin's enchanted lamp, where in +the depths of the forest he once kindled the great council-fire, and +met the neighboring tribes in the Big Talk. The very schoolhouse, +where you little folks are now tripping so lightly along the flowery +path of knowledge, may perhaps stand on the selfsame shady slope, +where, of a long summer evening, he would sit at the door of his +bark-built wigwam, smoking his long pipe, and watching his naked red +children with a more fatherly smile than you can well imagine in one +so fierce, as with many a hoop and yelp they played at "hide-and-seek" +among the gray old trees and pawpaw thickets. On yonder hill-top, +where we at this moment can see the windows of the house of God +shining and glancing in the moonlight, he may have stood, with his +face to the rising or setting sun, in mute worship before the Great +Spirit. + +But the stronger and wiser white man came; and, at his terrible +approach, the red man, with all his wild remembrances, passed away, +like an echo in the woods, or the shadow of an April cloud over the +hills and valleys; and the place that once knew him shall know him no +more for ever. + +And yet it might have been far otherwise with him and with us, had not +a certain Christopher Columbus chanced to light upon this Western +World of ours, as he came hap-hazard across the wide Atlantic, where +ship had never sailed before, in quest of a shorter passage to Asia. + +By this great discovery, it was proved to the entire satisfaction of +all who are in the least interested in the matter, that this earth +upon which we live, instead of being long and flat, with sides and +ends and corners like a great rough slab, was round, and hollow +inside, like an India-rubber ball, and went rolling through empty +space, round and round the sun, year after year, continually. + +Of this bold and skilful sailor, the most renowned that ever lived, I +should like to tell you many things; but, as we set out to give our +chief attention to the story of Washington, we must deny ourselves +this pleasure until the holidays of some merry Christmas yet to come, +when your Uncle Juvinell, if he still keeps his memory fresh and +green, will relate to you many wonderful things in the life of this +great voyager, Columbus. + +Up to this time, all the nations of Christendom had for ages upon ages +been sunk in a lazy doze of ignorance and superstition. But, when +tidings of the great discovery reached their drowsy ears, they were +roused in a marvellous manner; and many of the richest and most +powerful forthwith determined to secure, each to itself, a portion of +the new-found region, by planting colonies; or, in other words, by +making settlements therein. + +For this purpose, they sent out fleets of ships across the Atlantic to +these distant shores, laden with multitudes of men, who brought with +them all manner of tools and implements wherewith to clear away the +forests, till the soil, and build forts and cities, and arms to defend +themselves against the attacks of the war-like savages. Thus, for +example, Spain colonized Mexico; France, Canada; and England, that +strip of the North-American continent, lying between the Alleghany +Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, now known as the eastern coast of +the United States. + +At first, the new-comers were received and treated with much kindness +and hospitality by the natives: but it was not long before they +discovered that they were likely to be robbed of their homes and +hunting-grounds; when rage and jealousy took possession of their +hearts, and from that time forward they never let slip an opportunity +of doing all the mischief in their power to the hated intruders. Then +began that long train of bloody wars between the two races, which have +never ceased except with defeat or ruin of the weaker red man, and +bringing him nearer and nearer to the day when he must either forsake +his savage life, or cease to have an existence altogether. + +Now, this may appear very unjust and wrong to my little friends; and, +to some extent, it really was: but, in those days, might made right; +or, in other words, the strong ruled the weak. And yet we are bound to +believe that all this, in the long-run, has worked, and is still +working, to the greatest good of the greatest number: for, had it been +otherwise, all this beautiful land, now the home of a Christian and +happy people, would have remained the dismal wilderness we have +described it; answering no good end, as far as concerns the spread of +truth and knowledge, and the cultivation of those useful arts which +make a nation prosperous in peace, and strong in war. + +Notwithstanding their troubles with the Indians, the hardships and +privations to which the first settlers of a wild country are always +exposed, and the shameful neglect with which they were treated by the +mother-countries, the French and English colonies went on growing and +thriving in a way that was wonderful to behold. At the end of a +hundred and fifty years, or thereabouts, they had so grown in strength +and increased in numbers, and had so widened their boundaries, that at +last the continent, vast as it is, seemed too narrow to hold them +both; and they began throwing up their elbows for more room, in a +manner that would have been thought quite uncivil in a private +individual at a dinner table or in a stage-coach. + +Whereupon there arose a hot dispute between the kings of France and +England as to whom belonged all that immense region stretching from +the Alleghanies to the Mississippi, in the one direction; and, in the +other, from the Ohio to the Great Lakes of the North. + +The French claimed it by the right of discovery: by which they meant, +that a certain Father Marquette had, nearly a hundred years before, +discovered the Mississippi during his wanderings as a missionary +among the Indians of the Far West. They pretended, that, as this pious +man had paddled a little canoe up and down this splendid river a few +hundred miles, his royal master, the King of France, was thereby +entitled to all the lands watered by it, and the ten thousand streams +that empty into it. + +The English, on the other hand, claimed it by the right of purchase; +having, as they said, bought it at a fair price of the Six Nations, a +powerful league or union of several Indian tribes inhabiting the +region round about the great lake's Erie and Ontario. What right the +Six Nations had to it, is impossible to say. They claimed it, however, +by the doubtful right of conquest; there being a tradition among them, +that their ancestors, many generations before, had overrun the +country, and subdued its inhabitants. + +Now, the poor Indians who occupied the land in question were very +indignant indeed when they heard that they and theirs had been sold to +the white strangers by their red enemies, the Six Nations, whom they +regarded as a flock of meddlesome crows, that were always dipping +their ravenous bills into matters that did not in the least concern +them; and their simple heads were sorely perplexed and puzzled, that +two great kings, dwelling in far-distant countries, thousands of miles +away beyond the mighty ocean, should, in the midst of uncounted +riches, fall to wrangling with each other over a bit of wilderness +land that neither of them had ever set eyes or foot on, and to which +they had no more right than the Grand Caliph of Bagdad, or that +terrible Tartar, Kublah Khan. + +"Of all this land," said they, "there is not the black of a man's +thumb-nail that the Six Nations can call their own. It is ours. More +than a thousand moons before the pale-face came over the Big Water in +his white-winged canoes, the Great Spirit gave it to our forefathers; +and they handed it down, to be our inheritance as long as the old +hills tell of their green graves. In its streams have we fished, in +its woods have we hunted, in its sunny places have we built our +wigwams, and in its dark and secret places have we fought and scalped +and burnt our sworn enemies, without let or hinderance, time out of +mind. Now, if the English claim all on this side of the Ohio, and the +French claim all on this side of the Big Lakes, then what they claim +is one and the same country,--the country whereon we dwell. Surely our +white brothers must be dreaming. It is our hearts' desire, that our +brothers, the English, keep on their side of the Ohio, and till the +ground, and grow rich in corn; also that our brothers, the French, +keep on their side of the lakes, and hunt in the woods, and grow rich +in skins and furs. But you must both quit pressing upon us, lest our +ribs be squeezed in and our breath be squeezed out, and we cease to +have a place among men. We hold you both at arm's-length; and whoever +pays good heed to the words we have spoken, by him will we stand, and +with him make common cause against the other." + +But to these just complaints of the poor Indian the French and English +gave no more heed than if they who uttered them were so many +whip-poor-wills crying in the woods. So they fell to wrangling in a +more unreasonable manner than ever. Finally, to mend the matter (that +is to say, make things worse), the French, coming up the Mississippi +from the South, and down from the Great Lakes of the North, began +erecting a chain of forts upon the disputed territory, to overawe the +inhabitants thereof, and force the English to keep within the +Alleghanies and the Atlantic. As a matter of course, the English +regarded this as an insult to their dignity, and resolved to chastise +the French for their impudence. And this it was that brought about +that long and bloody struggle, the Old French War. + +Thus, my dear children, do great and wise nations, professing to +follow the humane teachings of the man-loving, God-fearing Jesus, +often show no more truth and justice and honesty in their dealings +with one another than if they were as ignorant of the Ten Commandments +as the most benighted heathens, to whom even the name of Moses was +never spoken. Yet, from your looks, I see that you are wondering +within yourselves what all this rigmarole about England, France, the +Six Nations, and disputed territories, can have to do with George +Washington. Had you held a tight rein on your impatience a little +while longer, you would have found out all about it, without the +inconvenience of wondering; and hereafter, my little folks, rest +assured that your Uncle Juvinell never ventures upon any thing without +having all his eyes and wits about him, and that what he may tell you +shall always prove instructive, although it may now and then--with no +fault of his, however--seem to you somewhat dry and tedious. + + +[Illustration] + + + + +X. + +"BIG TALK" WITH "WHITE THUNDER." + + +But we are a little fast. In order to bring ourselves square again +with our story, we must take one step backward, and begin afresh. + +When tidings of these trespasses of the French reached the ears of +Robert Dinwiddie, then Governor of Virginia, all his Scotch blood +boiled within him, and he began forthwith casting in his mind what +might be done to check or chastise such audacious proceedings. + +Cooling down a little, however, he thought it would be better, before +throwing his stones, to try what virtue might be found in grass. By +which you are to understand, that he determined to write a letter to +the French general, then stationed in a little fort near Lake Erie, +inquiring by what authority these encroachments were made on the +dominions of his royal master, the King of England; and demanding that +they, the French, should abandon their forts, and withdraw their +troops from the disputed territory, without delay, or else abide the +consequences. He was well aware, that, to insure any thing like +success in a mission so difficult and perilous, the person intrusted +with it must needs be robust of body, stout of heart, clear of head; +one inured to the hardships of a backwoods life, well acquainted with +the habits and customs of the Indians, and withal a man of +intelligence, polite address, and the strictest integrity of +character. But one such man was to be found among ten thousand; and +this was George Washington, who answered to the description in every +particular, and was therefore chosen to perform this perilous +undertaking, although he had not yet completed his twenty-second year. + +Accordingly, having received from Governor Dinwiddie written +instructions how to act when come into the enemy's country, Major +Washington set out the next morning from Williamsburg, then the +capital of Virginia, and made his way at once to Winchester, at that +time a frontier settlement of the province, lying on the very edge of +the wilderness. Here he spent several days in procuring supplies for +the expedition, and raising a small party of hunters and pioneers to +guard and bear him company. After some delay, he succeeded in +procuring the services of seven men. Four of these were hardy +backwoodsmen of experience, whose business it was to take care of the +baggage and keep the party supplied with game. Mr. Davidson was to go +along as Indian interpreter, and Mr. Gist as guide. A bolder and more +enterprising pioneer than this Gist, by the by, was not to be found +in all the Western wilds; and he is supposed by some historians to +have been the first white man that ever brought down an elk or a +buffalo in that paradise of hunters, green Kentucky. In addition to +these, Washington took with him as French interpreter his old Dutch +fencing-master, Capt. Van Braam. The worthy captain, however, seems to +have been a far more expert master of sword-play than of the +languages; for the jargon he was pleased to call an interpretation was +often such a medley of half-learned English, half-remembered French, +and half-forgotten Dutch, that they who listened would be nearly as +much perplexed to see what he would be driving at, as if he were +sputtering Cherokee into their ears. + +All things being at last in readiness, the gallant little party, +headed by our young Virginian, turned their faces towards the great +North-west; and, plunging into the wilderness, were soon beyond all +traces of civilized man. The autumn was far advanced. The travelling +was rendered toilsome, and even dangerous, by the heavy rains of this +season, and early snows that had already fallen on the mountains, +which had changed the little rills into rushing torrents, and the low +bottom-lands into deep and miry swamps. Much delayed by these and the +like hinderances, Washington, upon reaching the banks of the +Monongahela, deemed it best to send two of the backwoodsmen with the +baggage in canoes down this river to its mouth, where, uniting its +waters with those of the Allegheny, it helped to form the great Ohio. +Promising to meet them at this point, he and the rest of the party +pushed thitherward by land on horseback. Reaching the Forks of the +Ohio two days before the canoe-men, he spent the time in exploring the +woods and hills and streams around, and was much struck with the +advantages the place held out as a site for a military post. This, +together with other items meriting attention that happened to him or +occurred to his mind during the expedition, he carefully noted down in +a journal which he kept, to be laid, in the form of a report, before +Gov. Dinwiddie, upon his return. The following year, as a convincing +proof to his countrymen how entirely they might rely on his foresight +and judgment in such matters, French officers of skill and experience +chose this very spot to be the site of Fort Duquesne, afterwards so +famous in the border history of our country. Near the close of the +war, this post fell into the hands of the English, who changed its +name to that of Fort Pitt; which in time gave rise to the busy, +thriving, noisy, dingy, fine young town of Pittsburg, a smoky-looking +picture of which you may see any time you choose to consult your +geography. + +Instead of pushing on directly to the Lakes, Major Washington turned a +little aside from his course, and went down the Ohio about twenty +miles, to an Indian village called Logstown. Here, as had been +previously arranged, he met a few sachems or chiefs of some of the +Western tribes, to kindle a council-fire and have a Big Talk. He was +received with much hospitality and courtesy by a stately old chief, +whose Indian name you would not care to hear, as it would give Master +Charlie's nut-crackers the jaw-ache to pronounce it. Among the +English, however, as he was the head of a league or union of several +tribes, he usually went by the name of the Half King. After the pipe +had passed with all due gravity from mouth to mouth, and every +warrior, chief, and white man present had taken a whiff or two, in +sign that all was good-will and peace between them, Washington arose, +and addressed the Half King in a short speech, somewhat after the +following manner:-- + +"Your brother, the Governor of Virginia, has sent me with a letter to +the big French captain, near Lake Erie. What is written therein deeply +concerns you and your people as well as us. It was his desire, +therefore, that you share with us the toils and dangers of this +expedition, by sending some of your young men along with us, to guide +us through the wilderness where there is no path, and be our safeguard +against the wiles of cunning and evil-minded men we may chance to meet +by the way. This he will look upon as a still further proof of the +love and friendship you bear your brothers, the English. As a pledge +of his faith in all this, and as a token of his love for his red +brother, he sends this belt of wampum." + +Mr. Davidson having interpreted this speech, the Half King for some +moments after sat smoking in profound silence, as if turning over in +his mind what he had just heard, or as if waiting, according to Indian +notions of etiquette on such occasions, to assure himself that the +speaker had made an end of his say. He then arose, and spoke to the +following effect:-- + +"I have heard the words of my young white brother, and they are true. +I have heard the request of my brother the Governor of Virginia, and +it is reasonable. At present, however, my young men are abroad in the +forest, hunting game to provide against the wants of the coming +winter, that our wives and children starve not when we are out upon +the war-path. At the third setting of the sun from this time, they +will be coming in; when I will not only send some of them with my +young white brother, but will myself bear him company. For he must +know that we have ceased to look upon the French as our friends. They +have trespassed upon our soil; they have spoken words of insult and +mockery to our oldest sachems. For this cause have my people resolved +to return them the speech-belt they gave us at the Big Talk we had +last winter at Montreal. It is that I may defy the big French captain +to his teeth, and fling his speech-belt in his face, that I now go +with my young brother, the Long Knife." + +On the third day, as had been promised, the young men came in from +hunting; from among whom the Half King chose eight or ten to serve as +an additional escort to Major Washington during the expedition. Among +these was a warrior of great distinction, who went by the tremendous +name of White Thunder, and was keeper of the speech-belt. Now, you +must know, that in Indian politics, when two tribes exchange +speech-belts, it is understood to be an expression of peace and +good-will between them; while to return or throw them away is the same +as a declaration of war, or at least to be taken as a hint that all +friendly intercourse between them is at an end. The "keeper of the +speech-belt" was, therefore, a kind of "secretary of state" among +these simple people. + +Thus re-enforced by his red allies, Washington, who had grown somewhat +impatient under this delay, gladly turned his face once more towards +the Great Lakes. All this time, the rain had continued to fall with +scarcely an hour's intermission. The streams and low meadow-lands were +so flooded in consequence, that they were often obliged to wander many +a weary mile over rugged highlands and through tangled forests, +without finding themselves any nearer their journey's end. Now and +then, coming to some muddy, swollen stream, in order to gain the +opposite side without getting their baggage wet, they must needs cross +over on rafts rudely constructed of logs and grape-vines, and make +their horses swim along behind them. It was near the middle of +December, before the little party, jaded and travel-stained, reached +their destination. + +Major Washington was received with true soldierly courtesy by the +French general, to whom he at once delivered Gov. Dinwiddie's letter. +A few days being requested for a due consideration of its contents, as +well as the answer to be returned, he spent the time, as he had been +instructed, in gaining all the information he could, without exciting +suspicion, touching the designs of the French in the North-west,--to +what extent they had won over the several Indian tribes to their +interest; the number of troops they had brought into the territory; +and the number, strength, and situation of the forts they had built. +The fort where the French general then had his headquarters stood on +the banks of a little river called French Creek, in which Washington +observed lying, and bade his men count, a large number of canoes, to +be used early in the following spring for transporting men and +military stores down the Ohio. All the hints and items thus gathered +he carefully noted down in his journal, to be laid, as I have told you +already, in the form of a report, before Gov. Dinwiddie, upon his +return. + +Being wary and watchful, he was not long in discovering that the +French were tampering with his Indian allies; tempting them, by the +gayest of presents, the fairest of promises, and the hottest of +firewater, to break faith with the English, and join their cause. +These underhand dealings gave Washington much uneasiness of mind; and +he complained to the French general, yet in a firm and dignified +manner, of the unfair advantage thus taken of the besetting weakness +of these poor people. + +Of course, the wily old Frenchman denied all knowledge of the matter; +although we are bound to believe, that, as these tricks and intrigues +were going on under his very nose, he must certainly have winked at, +if he did not openly encourage them. + +It is true that the Indians were by no means too nice to enrich +themselves with French presents, and get drunk on French whiskey; yet, +for all that, they turned a deaf ear to French promises, and, keeping +their faith unbroken, remained as true as hickory to their friends the +English. Even the Half King, stately and commanding as he was in +council, yielded to the pleasing temptation along with the rest; and, +for the greater part of the time, lay beastly drunk about the fort. +When at last he came to his sober senses, he was not a little +chopfallen upon being somewhat sternly reminded by Major Washington of +the business that had brought him thither, the recollection of which +he had seemingly drowned in his enemy's whiskey. Whereupon, as if to +show that all his threats and promises had been made in good faith, he +went forthwith to the French general, and delivered the grave oration +he had composed for the occasion; at the same time returning the +speech-belt White Thunder had brought, as a sign that all friendly +relations between the French and his people were at an end. + +At last, having received the answer to Gov. Dinwiddie's letter, and +looked into matters and things about him as far as he could with +prudence, Major Washington was now anxious to be away from the place +where he had already been detained too long. During his stay, however, +he had been treated with the greatest respect and courtesy by the +accomplished Frenchman, who presented him, upon his departure, with a +large canoe laden with a liberal supply of liquors and provisions, +that lasted him and his men until they reached the Ohio. + +To spare the horses as much as possible, Washington had sent them, +with two or three of the men, by land to Venango, a fort about fifteen +miles below; whither he now set out to follow them by water. The +navigation of this little river, owing to its shallows and the masses +of floating ice that here and there blocked up its channel, was +difficult and toilsome in the extreme. Oftentimes, to prevent their +frail canoes from being dashed to pieces against the rocks, would they +be compelled to get out into the cold water for half an hour at a +time, and guide them with their hands down the whirling and rapid +current, and now and then even to carry them and their loads by land +around some foaming cataract to the smoother water below. After an +irksome little voyage, they reached Venango, fully satisfied that to +go further by water was quite out of the question. + + + + +XI. + +CHRISTMAS IN THE WILDERNESS. + + +Here, at Venango, Major Washington, much to his regret, was compelled +to part company with the Half King and his other red allies. White +Thunder, keeper of the speech-belt, had been so seriously injured in +their passage down, as to be, for the present, quite unable to travel; +and the rest would not think of leaving him, but needs must tarry +there until their friend should be well enough to be brought in a +canoe down the Alleghany. + +Remounting their horses, our little party once more took their weary +way through the wilderness. It was now the 22d of December. The +weather was bitter cold; the snow fell thick and fast, and froze as it +fell; and the bleak winds moaned drearily among the naked trees. The +forest streams were frozen from bank to bank, yet often too thin to +bear the weight of the horses; which rendered their crossing painful +and hazardous indeed. To add to the discomfort of our travellers, the +horses, from poor and scanty fare, had become too weak to be able +longer to carry their allotted burdens. Moved with compassion at their +pitiable plight, Washington dismounted from his fine saddle-horse, and +loaded his with a part of the baggage; choosing rather to toil along +on foot, than to take his ease at the expense of pain even to these +poor brutes. His humane example was promptly followed by the rest of +the party; and only the two men kept the saddle to whom was intrusted +the care of the baggage. + +You can well imagine, that a Christmas spent in this wild waste of +leafless woods and snowy hills was any thing but a merry one to these +poor fellows, so far away from their homes, which, at that moment, +they knew to be so bright and cheerful with the mirth and laughter of +"old men and babes, and loving friends, and youths, and maidens gay." +And yet I dare say, that, even there, they greeted each other on that +blessed morning with a brighter smile than usual, and called to their +remembrance, that on that morn a babe was born, who, in the fulness of +years, has grown to be the light and love and glory of the earth. + +Seeing that the half-famished beasts were growing weaker and weaker +day by day, and that he would be too long in reaching his journey's +end if he governed his speed by theirs, Washington left Capt. Van +Braam in command of the party, and pushed forward with no other +company than Mr. Gist. Armed with their trusty rifles, and clad in +the light dress of the Indians, with no extra covering for the night +but their watch-coats, and with no other baggage but a small +portmanteau containing their food and Major Washington's important +papers, they now made rapid headway, and soon left their friends far +behind. The next day, they came upon an Indian village called +Murdering Town; a name of evil omen, given it, perhaps, from its +having been the scene of some bloody Indian massacre. What befell them +here, I will tell you, as nearly as I can remember, in Mr. Gist's own +words:-- + + "We rose early in the morning, and set out at seven o'clock, + and got to Murdering Town, on the south-east fork of Beaver + Creek. Here we met with an Indian whom I thought I had seen at + Joncaire's, at Venango, when on our journey up to the French + fort. This fellow called me by my Indian name, and pretended to + be glad to see me. He asked us several questions; as, how we + came to travel on foot, when we left Venango, where we parted + with our horses, and when they would be there. Major Washington + insisted on travelling by the nearest way to the forks of the + Alleghany. We asked the Indian if he could go with us, and show + us the nearest way. The Indian seemed very glad and ready to go + with us; upon which we set out, and the Indian took the Major's + pack. We travelled very brisk for eight or ten miles; when the + Major's feet grew sore, and he very weary, and the Indian + steered too much north-eastwardly. The Major desired to encamp; + upon which the Indian asked to carry his gun, but he refused; + and then the Indian grew churlish, and pressed us to keep on, + telling us there were Ottawa Indians in those woods, and they + would scalp us if we lay out; but go to his cabin, and we would + be safe. + + "I thought very ill of the fellow, but did not care to let the + Major know I mistrusted him. But he soon mistrusted him as much + as I did. The Indian said he could hear a gun from his cabin, + and steered us northwardly. We grew uneasy, and then he said + two whoops might be heard from his cabin. We went two miles + further. Then the Major said he would stay at the next water, + and we desired the Indian to stop at the next water; but, + before we came to the water, we came to a clear meadow. It was + very light, and snow was on the ground. The Indian made a stop, + and turned about. The Major saw him point his gun towards us, + and he fired. Said the Major,-- + + "'Are you shot?' + + "'No,' said I. + + "Upon which the Indian ran forward to a big standing white oak, + and began loading his gun; but we were soon with him. I would + have killed him; but the Major would not suffer me. We let him + charge his gun. We found he put in a ball: then we took care of + him. Either the Major or I always stood by the guns. We made + him make a fire for us by a little run, as if we intended to + sleep there. I said to the Major,-- + + "'As you will not have him killed, we must get him away, and + then we must travel all night.' + + "Upon which I said to the Indian,-- + + "'I suppose you were lost, and fired your gun?' + + "He said he knew the way to his cabin: it was but a little + distance. + + "'Well,' said I, 'do you go home, and, as we are tired, we will + follow your track in the morning; and here is a cake of bread + for you, and you must give us meat in the morning.' + + "He was glad to get away. I followed him, and listened until he + was fairly out of the way; and then we went about half a mile, + when we made a fire, set our compass, fixed our course, and + travelled all night. In the morning, we were on the head of + Piny Creek." + +Thus you see, my dear children, from this adventure, upon what slight +accidents sometimes hang the destinies, not only of individuals, but +even of great nations; for had not this treacherous Indian missed his +aim, and that too, in all likelihood, for the first time in a +twelvemonth, it had never been our blessed privilege to know and love +and reverence such a man as Washington; and that, instead of being the +free-born, independent people that he made us, we might have been at +this very moment throwing up our hats and wasting our precious breath +in shouts of "Long life to Queen Victoria!" + +All that day they walked on, weary and foot-sore, through the deep +snow, without a trace of living man to enliven their solitary way. The +cold gray of a winter's evening was deepening the shadows of the +forest when they came to the banks of the Alleghany; and here a new +disappointment awaited them. They had all along cheered themselves +with the prospect of crossing this river on the ice: but they found +it frozen for about fifty yards only from either bank; while the rest +of the ice, broken into huge cakes, went floating swiftly down the +main channel, crushing and grinding together, and filling the hollow +woods around with doleful noises. + +With heavy hearts they kindled their camp-fire, and cooked and ate +their frugal supper; then, making themselves as comfortable as the +piercing winds would allow, they lay down on their snowy beds to +sleep, hopeful that the morrow would bring them better luck. Morning +dawned, and yet brought with it no brighter prospect. Would you know +what they did in this grievous state? Listen while I read Major +Washington's own account of it, as we find it written in his +journal:-- + + "There was no way for getting over but on a raft; which we set + about, with but one poor hatchet, and finished just after + sun-setting. This was a whole day's work. We next got it + launched; then went on board of it, and set off. But, before we + were half way over, we were jammed in the ice, in such a manner + that we expected every moment our raft to sink, and ourselves + to perish. I put out my setting-pole to try and stop the raft, + that the ice might pass by; when the rapidity of the stream + threw it with so much violence against the pole, that it jerked + me out into ten feet of water: but I fortunately saved myself + by catching hold of one of the raft-logs. Notwithstanding all + our efforts, we could not get to either shore, but were + obliged, as we were near an island, to quit our raft, and make + to it. The cold was so extremely severe, that Mr. Gist had all + his fingers, and some of his toes, frozen; and the water was + shut up so hard, that we found no difficulty in getting off the + island, on the ice, in the morning, and went to Mr. Frazier's." + +Here, for a space, they stopped to rest and refresh themselves after +the fatigue and exposure they had just undergone; and here, among +other items of interest, they heard that Queen Aliquippa, an Indian +princess, had been deeply offended that the young Long Knife had +passed by her royal shanty, the month before, without calling to pay +his compliments. Major Washington, well knowing that to humor their +peculiar whims and fancies was the best mode of securing the good-will +and friendship of these people, hastened at once to present himself +before her copper majesty, and make what amends he could for his +breach of etiquette. The present of a bottle of rum (over which, queen +that she was, she smacked her lips), and of his old watch-coat, that +would so handsomely set off her buckskin leggins, softened her ire +completely, and made her, from that time forward, the stanch friend +and ally of the English. + +Travelling on a few miles further, they came to Mr. Gist's house, on +the banks of the Monongahela, where Washington bought a horse to bear +him to his journey's end, and parted with his trusty guide. He was now +entirely alone; and a wide stretch of woods and mountains, swamps and +frozen streams, still lay between him and the cheerful homes to whose +comforts he had been so long a stranger. Now and then, the loneliness +of the way would be for a moment enlivened by the sight of some sturdy +backwoodsman, axe or rifle on shoulder, pushing westward, with his +wife and children and dogs and household trumpery, to find a home in +some still more distant part of the wilderness. It was midwinter, +when, after having been absent eleven weeks on his perilous mission, +our young Virginian, looking more like a wild Indian than the civil +and Christian gentleman that he really was, rode into the town of +Williamsburg, nor halted until he had alighted and hitched his horse +in front of the governor's house. + + + + +XII. + +WASHINGTON'S FIRST BATTLE. + + +Upon his arrival, Major Washington hastened at once to lay before Gov. +Dinwiddie, and the Virginia Legislature then in session, the French +general's letter, and the journal he had kept during the expedition. + +In his letter, the French general spoke in high and flattering terms +of the character and talents of young Washington; but, in language +most decided and unmistakable, refused to withdraw his troops from the +disputed territory, or cease building forts therein, as had been +demanded of him, unless so ordered by his royal master, the King of +France, to whose wishes only he owed respect and obedience. From the +tenor of this letter, it was plainly enough to be seen (what might, in +fact, have been seen before), that the French were not in the least +inclined to give up, at the mere asking, all that they had been at so +much pains and expense at gaining. It therefore followed, that as the +title to this bit of forest land could not be written with the pen, on +fair paper, in letters of Christian ink, it must needs be written with +the sword, on the fair earth, in letters of Christian blood. By this, +the little folks are to understand their Uncle Juvinell to mean that +war alone could settle the question between them. And this +unreasonable behavior, on the part of two great nations, has already, +I doubt not, brought to your minds the story of two huge giants, who, +chancing to meet one night, fell into a long and stormy dispute with +each other about the possession of a fair bit of meadow-land they had +happened to spy out at the same moment, where it lay in the lower horn +of the moon; and who finally, like the silly monsters that they were, +began belaboring each other with their heavy malls, as if the last +hope of beating a little reason in were to beat a few brains out. + +To drive and keep back the French and their Indian allies, Gov. +Dinwiddie made a call on the Virginia militia, and wrote to the +governors of some of the neighboring provinces, urging them, for their +common defence, to do the same. To strengthen their borders, and give +security to their frontier settlers, a small party of pioneers and +carpenters were sent to build a fort at the Forks of the Ohio, as +Washington had recommended in his journal. This journal, by the way, +throwing, as it did, so much new light on the designs of the French in +America, was thought worthy of publication, not only throughout the +Colonies, but also in the mother-country. The good sense, skill, +address, and courage shown by the young Virginian throughout the late +expedition, had drawn upon him the eyes of his countrymen; and, from +that time forward, he became the hope and promise of his native land. +As a proof of this high regard, he was offered the command of the +regiment to be raised: which, however, he refused to accept; for his +modesty told him that he was too young and inexperienced to be +intrusted with a matter of such moment to his country. To Col. Fry, an +officer of some note in the province, the command of the regiment was +therefore given; under whom he was quite willing to accept the post of +lieutenant-colonel. + +Notwithstanding the pressing danger that threatened all alike, the +people were shamefully slow in answering the summons to arms. +Washington had felt confident, that, at the very first tap of the +drum, squads upon squads of active, sturdy, well-fed, well-clothed +young farmers, moved by the same spirit with himself, would come +flocking to his standard with their trusty rifles, powder-horns, and +hunting-pouches, ready and eager to do their country service. Instead +of this, however, there gathered, about him a rabble of ragamuffins +and worthless fellows, who had spent their lives in tramping up and +down the country, without settled homes or occupations. + +Some were without hats and shoes; some had coats, and no shirts; some +had shirts, and no coats; and all were without arms, or any keen +desire to use them if they had them. All this disgusted and +disheartened our youthful colonel not a little; for he was young, and +had yet to learn that it is of just such stuff that the beginnings of +armies are always made. The slender pay of a soldier was not enough to +tempt the thriving yeomanry to leave their rich acres and snug +firesides to undergo the hardships and dangers of a camp life; as if, +by failing to answer their country's call, and fighting in its +defence, they were not running a still greater risk of losing all they +had. + +To encourage the young men of the province to come forward, Gov. +Dinwiddie caused it to be proclaimed, that two hundred thousand acres +of the very best land on the head-waters of the Ohio should be divided +between those that should enlist and serve during the war. This +splendid offer had, in some small measure, the effect desired; so +that, in a short time, something like an army was cobbled together, +with which, poor and scantily provided as it was, they at last +resolved to take the field. + +Col. Washington, in command of the main body, was ordered to go on in +advance, and cut a military road through the wilderness, in the +direction of the new fort at the Forks of the Ohio, by way of the +Monongahela; while Col. Fry was to remain behind with the rest of the +troops, to bring up the cannon and heavy stores when the road should +be opened. When the pioneers had cut their way about twenty miles +beyond the frontier town of Winchester, there came a rumor, that the +men who had been sent to build the fort at the Forks of the Ohio had +all been surprised and captured by the French. In a few days, all +doubts as to the truth of this report were set at rest by the men +themselves, who came walking leisurely into camp, with their spades +and axes on their shoulders, to every appearance quite well and +comfortable. + +For several days, they said, they had been working away on the fort +quite merrily; when, early one morning, they were much surprised to +see one thousand Frenchmen, in sixty bateaux, or boats, and three +hundred canoes, with six pieces of cannon, dropping quietly down the +Alleghany. The leader of this gallant little force summoned the fort +to surrender in the short space of an hour, or else they would find +their unfinished timber-work tumbling about their heads in a way that +would not be altogether agreeable. No one with even half his wits +about him would have for a moment thought of defending an unfinished +fort with axes, spades, and augers, against a force of twenty times +their number, backed by cannon and grape-shot. These men had all their +wits about them, and, to prove it, gave up the fort without further +parley; when the French captain marched in, and took formal possession +of the wooden pen in the name of his most Christian majesty, the King +of France; after which, with that gayety and good-humor so often to +be observed among the French people, he invited the young ensign--who, +in the absence of the captain, had been left in the command of the +fort for that day--to dine and drink a glass of wine with him. He then +suffered them all to depart in peace with his good wishes, and with +their spades, carpenter's tools, and axes on their shoulders. + +Col. Washington was deeply mortified at this intelligence; but, like +the manly man that he was, he put a bright face on the matter, and, to +keep up the spirits of his men, resolved to push on with the road with +more vigor than ever. And a tremendous undertaking this was, I assure +you. The tallest of trees were to be felled, the hugest of rocks to be +split and removed, the deepest of swamps to be filled, and the +swiftest of mountain torrents bridged over. With such hinderances, you +will not wonder that they made but four miles a day. Now and then, the +soldiers would be obliged to put their shoulders to the wheel, and +help the poor half-famished horses with their heavy wagons up some +rough and rocky steep. Thus over the gloomy mountains, and down the +rugged defiles, and through a dark and lonely valley since called the +Shades of Death, they forced their toilsome way. At last, after many +weary days, they reached the banks of the Youghiogeny,--a romantic +little river that went tumbling down the green hills in many a foaming +waterfall; then, like a frolicsome school-boy nearing school, put on +a demure and sober face, and quietly emptied itself into the more +tranquil Monongahela. Here, to give his worn-out men and horses some +repose after their severe and unceasing labors, Washington ordered a +halt. + +Being told by some friendly Indians that the baggage could be carried +down this stream by water, he set out early one morning in a canoe, +with four or five white men, and an Indian for a guide, to see for +himself what truth there might be in this report. When they had rowed +about ten miles, their Indian guide, after sulking for a little while, +laid his oar across the canoe, and refused to go further. At first, +this behavior appeared to them a little queer; but they were not long +in discovering that it was only a way the cunning red rascal had of +higgling to get more pay for his services. After some pretty sharp +bargaining, Col. Washington promised to give him his old watch-coat +and a ruffled shirt if he would go on; upon which, without more ado, +he picked up his oar, and for the rest of the trip steered away +blithely enough. You can well imagine what an uncommon swell this +savage dandy, with his bare red legs, must have cut, a few days after, +in his civilized finery, among the copper-cheeked belles of the woods. +By the time they had rowed twenty miles further, Washington was +satisfied, that, owing to the rocks and rapids, a passage down this +river in the shallow canoes of the Indians was next to impossible. + +Returning to camp, he soon afterwards received word from his old +friend and ally, the Half King, that a party of French had been seen +coming from the direction of Fort Duquesne, who were in all +likelihood, by that time, somewhere in his close neighborhood. Upon +hearing this, Washington deemed it prudent to fall back a few miles to +the Great Meadows, a beautiful little plain, situated in the midst of +woods and hills, and divided by a rivulet. Here he threw up strong +intrenchments, cleared away the undergrowth, and prepared what he +called "a charming field for an encounter." Shortly after, Mr. Gist, +whom you well remember, came into camp, from his home on the +Monongahela, with the tidings, that a party of French had been at his +house on the day before, whom, from their appearance, he believed to +be spies. Washington sent out some of his men on wagon-horses to beat +the woods; who came in about dusk, without having, however, discovered +any traces of the enemy. About nine o'clock that same night, an Indian +runner came from the Half King with word, that some of his hunters had +late that evening seen the tracks of two Frenchmen not five miles +distant; and that, if Col. Washington would join him with some of his +men, they would set out early in the morning in quest of the lurking +foe. + +Taking with him about forty men, and leaving the rest to guard the +intrenchments, Washington set out forthwith for the Indian camp. Their +way led them through tall and thick woods, that were then in the full +leaf of early summer. As if to deepen their gloom, the sky was +overcast with the blackest of clouds, from which the rain poured down +in torrents; and the night, of course, was as dark as dark could be. +No wonder, then, that they were continually losing their path, which +was but a deer-track, and none of the plainest, even in broad +daylight. When any one discovered that he had lost himself, he would +shout, and set himself right again by the answering shouts of his +comrades who might be so lucky as to be in the path at that moment. +After blundering about all night through marshy thickets, slipping +upon slimy rocks, and scrambling over the oozy trunks of fallen trees, +they reached the Indian camp at daybreak in a somewhat moist and +bedabbled plight, as you may well imagine. The Half King seemed +overjoyed at seeing his young white brother once more; and, with true +Indian hospitality, set before him and his men the best his camp +afforded. After breakfasting heartily on bear's meat, venison, and +parched corn, they all set out together, much refreshed, to seek what +game might be in the wind. The Half King led the way to the spot where +the two tracks had been seen the evening before; and, having found +them, told two of his sharp-eyed hunters to follow the trail until +they could bring some tidings of the feet that had made them. Like +hounds on the scent of a fox, they started off at a long trot; only +pausing now and then to look more closely at the leaves, to make sure +they were right, and not on a cold scent. In a short time, they came +back with word that they had spied twenty-five or thirty French and +Canadians encamped in a low, narrow bottom, between high and steep +hills, who looked as if they were desirous of concealment. Whereupon +Washington proposed that the two parties should divide, and, stealing +upon the enemy from opposite directions, surprise and capture him, if +possible, without the shedding of blood. To this the Half King agreed; +and, parting, they moved off in profound silence, each on their +separate way. + +A sudden turn of the hollow, down which they had been making their way +for several minutes, brought Washington and his party, ere they were +well aware, in full view of the enemy. Some were cooking their +morning's meal, some were preparing their arms for the day's +excursion, some were lounging, and all were merry. But, seeing as soon +as seen, they ran with all speed to their guns, that were leaned +against the trees hard by, and, without more ado, began firing in so +brisk and earnest a manner, that left the Virginians no choice but to +return it, which they did with spirit. About the same time, the Half +King and his warriors came down to the bottom of the hill on the +opposite side of the hollow, and, screening themselves behind a bit of +rising ground, joined the music of their rifles with the rest. For +about fifteen minutes, the skirmish was kept up with great spirit on +both sides; when the French, having lost ten of their number (among +whom was their leader, Capt. de Jumonville), surrendered, and yielded +up their arms. Washington had one man shot dead at his side, and three +men wounded; but his Indian allies, protected as they were by the +rising ground, came off without the loss of a single feather or +porcupine-quill. Unluckily, in the heat of the encounter, a +swift-footed Canadian, better, no doubt, at dodging than shooting, +managed to make his escape, and carried the news to Fort Duquesne. + +The Half King and his warriors, I am sorry to tell you, would have +butchered the prisoners in cold blood, had not Washington sternly +forbidden them. They therefore consoled themselves as best they might +for this disappointment by scalping the dead; which, however, yielded +them but sorry comfort, as there were but ten scalps to be divided +among forty warriors. + +The Half King was much offended by this humane interference, on the +part of his young white brother, in behalf of the prisoners; for he +seemed to think, that as they were spies, and French spies at that, +they richly deserved to be scalped alive. Such milk-and-water, +half-way measures might do for pale-faces, but were not the sort of +entertainment to be relished by a genuine Indian brave of the first +water, or, to speak more to the point, of the first blood. + +Without, however, in the least heeding these muttered grumblings of +the worthy old chief, who had his failings along with the rest of +mankind, Col. Washington took the prisoners to his camp, where he +treated them with even more kindness and courtesy than they as spies +deserved. From thence he sent them under a strong guard to +Williamsburg, and wrote to Gov. Dinwiddie, begging him to treat them +with all the humanity due to prisoners of war, but to keep a strict +watch over them, as there were among them two or three very cunning +and dangerous men. + +This encounter, commonly called the Jumonville affair, caused a great +sensation, not only throughout the Colonies, but also in France and +England; for it was there, as you must know, in that remote and +obscure little valley, that flowed the first blood of this long and +eventful war. It was Washington's first battle; and, being a +successful one, much inspirited him. In a letter written at this time +to his brother Augustine, after touching upon the particulars of this +skirmish, he says, "I heard the bullets whistle; and, believe me, +there is something charming in the sound." + + + + +XIII. + +FORT NECESSITY. + + +About this time, Col. Fry died at Wills's Creek, where he had lain ill +of a fever for several weeks; and Washington, as the next in rank, was +obliged to take command of the regiment. Although this change brought +with it an increase of pay and honors, yet it caused him the sincerest +regret; for even then, young as he was, he had the good of his country +more earnestly at heart than his own private advantage. He said, and +with unfeigned modesty, that he feared he was scarcely equal to the +discharge of such high and responsible duties, without the aid and +counsel of some older and more experienced officer. + +Capt. de Villiers was now commander of the French at Fort Duquesne. +When tidings of the late encounter reached this officer through the +swift-footed Canadian, he swore a deep oath that he would chastise the +audacious young Virginian for what he chose to call this barbarous +outrage, and avenge the death of De Jumonville, whose brother-in-law, +as ill luck would have it, he chanced to be. Foreseeing his danger, +and to defend himself against the superior force he knew would be +brought against him, Col. Washington set about forthwith to strengthen +his works. He dug the ditches deeper, raised the breastworks higher, +and surrounded the whole with a row of palisades, firmly planted in +the ground, and set so close together as scarcely to allow of a +gun-barrel passing between them. + +Owing to the shameful neglect of those whose duty it was to send up +supplies, he and his men suffered much from the want of food,--many +days at a stretch sometimes passing by without their tasting bread. To +aggravate this new distress, the Half King and many of his warriors, +with their wives and children, now sought refuge in the fort from the +vengeance of the French and their savage allies; which added nothing +to their strength, and only increased the number of hungry mouths to +be fed. To this place, then, where gaunt famine pinched them from +within and watchful enemies beset them from without, Washington gave +the fitting name of Fort Necessity. Luckily for them, while in this +pitiable plight, days and days passed by, and still no avenging De +Villiers showed himself, though alarms were frequent. + +Col. Washington now ordered Major Muse to bring up the rest of the +troops that had been waiting all this while at Wills's Creek, with the +heavy stores and cannon. To reward the friendly Indians for their +services and fidelity, Major Muse brought with him presents of +hatchets and knives, guns, powder and lead, tin cups, needles and +pins, beads, and dry-goods of every gaudy hue, and it may be, although +we can only guess it, a ruffled shirt or two. In addition to these, +there came a number of silver medals for the chief sachems, sent by +Gov. Dinwiddie at the suggestion of Col. Washington, who well knew how +much these simple people prize little compliments of this kind. Major +Muse handed out the presents, while Washington hung the medals about +the necks of the sachems, which yielded them far more delight, you +will be sorry to hear, than their good old missionary's catechism. +This was done with all that show and parade so dear to an Indian's +heart; and, to give a still finer edge to the present occasion, they +christened each other all over again: that is to say, the red men gave +the white men Indian names, and the white men gave the red men English +names. Thus, for example, Washington gave the Half King the name of +Dinwiddie, which pleased him greatly; while he, in his turn, bestowed +on his young white brother a long, high-sounding Indian name, that you +could pronounce as readily spelt backwards as forwards. Fairfax was +the name given a young sachem, the son of Queen Aliquippa, whose +eternal friendship to the English, it must be borne in mind, had been +secured by Washington, the previous winter, by the present of an old +coat and a bottle of rum. + +By the advice of his old and much-esteemed friend, Col. William +Fairfax, Washington had divine worship in the fort daily, in which he +led; and, thanks to the early teachings of his pious mother, he could +do this, and sin not. Solemn indeed, my dear children, and beautiful +to behold, must have been that picture,--that little fort, so far away +in the heart of the lonely wilderness, with its motley throng of +painted Indians and leather-clad backwoodsmen gathered round their +young commander, as, morning and evening, he kneeled in prayer before +the Giver of all good, beseeching aid and protection, and giving +thanks. + +As if to put his manhood and patience to a still severer test, there +came to the fort about this time an independent company of one hundred +North Carolinians, headed by one Capt. Mackay, who refused to serve +under him as his superior officer. As his reason for this conduct, +Mackay argued that he held a royal commission (that is to say, had +been made a captain by the King of England), which made him equal in +rank, if not superior, to Washington, who held only a provincial +commission, or had been made a colonel by the Governor of Virginia. +This, in part, was but too true; and it had been a source of +dissatisfaction to Washington, that the rank and services of colonial +officers should be held at a cheaper rate than the same were valued at +in the royal army. It wounded his honest, manly pride, and offended +his high sense of justice; and he had already resolved in his own mind +to quit such inglorious service, as soon as he could do so without +injury to the present campaign, or loss of honor to himself. To most +men, the lofty airs and pretensions of Capt. Mackay and his +Independents would have been unbearable; but he kept his temper +unruffled, and, with a prudence beyond his years, forbore to do or say +any thing that would lead to an angry outbreak between them; and as +they chose to encamp outside the fort, and have separate guards, he +deemed it wisest not to trouble himself about them, only so far as +might concern their common safety. + +Days, and even weeks, had now passed away, and still no enemy had come +to offer him battle. His men were becoming restless from inaction; and +the example of the troublesome Independents had already begun to stir +up discontent among them, which threatened, if not checked in season, +to end in downright insubordination. As the surest remedy for these +evils, Washington resolved to push forward with the road in the +direction of Fort Duquesne, and carry the war into the enemy's own +country. Requesting Capt. Mackay to guard the fort during his absence, +he set out with his entire force of three hundred men, and again began +the toilsome work of cutting a road through the wilderness. The +difficulties they had now to overcome were even greater than those +which beset them at the outset of their pioneering. The mountains +were higher, the swamps deeper, the rocks more massive, the trees +taller and more numerous, the torrents more rapid, the days more hot +and sultry, and the men and horses more enfeebled by poor and scanty +food. You will not wonder, then, that they were nearly two weeks in +reaching Mr. Gist's plantation on the Monongahela, a distance of but +fifteen miles. + +But hardly had they pitched their tents, and thrown themselves on the +grass to snatch a little rest, when there came the disheartening +intelligence, brought in by their Indian spies, that Capt. de Villiers +had been seen to sally from Fort Duquesne but a few hours before, at +the head of a force of five hundred French and four hundred Indians, +and must by that time be within a few miles of the Virginia camp. For +three hundred weary and hungry men to wait and give battle to a force +three times their number, fresh and well fed, was a thing too absurd +to be thought of for a single moment. Washington, therefore, as their +only chance of safety, ordered a hasty retreat, hoping that they might +be able to reach the settlements on Wills's Creek before the enemy +could overtake him. The retreat, however, was any thing but a hasty +one; for the poor half-famished horses were at last no longer able to +drag the heavy cannon and carry the heavy baggage. Moved with pity for +the lean and tottering beasts, Washington dismounted from his fine +charger, and gave him for a pack-horse; which humane example was +promptly followed by his officers. Yet even this was not enough: so, +while some of the jaded men loaded their backs with the baggage, the +rest, as jaded, dragged the artillery along the stony roads with +ropes, rather than that it should be left behind to fall into the +hands of the enemy. For this good service, rendered so willingly in +that hour of sore distress, they went not unrewarded by their generous +young commander. + +Capt. Mackay and his company of Independents had, at Washington's +request, come up a little while before, and now joined in the retreat. +But they joined in nothing else; for, pluming themselves upon their +greater respectability as soldiers of his Britannic majesty, they lent +not a helping hand in this hour of pressing need, although the danger +that lurked behind threatened all alike. They marched along, these +coxcombs, daintily picking their way over the smoothest roads, and too +genteel to be burdened with any thing but their clean muskets and tidy +knapsacks. This ill-timed and insolent behavior served only to +aggravate the trials of the other poor fellows all the more; and when, +at last, they had managed to drag the cannon and the wagons and +themselves to Fort Necessity, they were so overcome with fatigue and +hunger, and so moved with indignation at the conduct of the +Independents, that they threw down their ropes and packs, and flatly +refused to be marched further. Seeing their pitiful plight, and that +it would be impossible to reach the settlements, Col. Washington, as +their last chance of safety, turned aside, and once more took shelter +in his little fort. + +As Capt. Mackay and his company of gentlemen fighters had done nothing +towards strengthening the works during his absence, Washington ordered +a few trees to be felled in the woods hard by, as a still further +barrier to the approach of the enemy. Just as the last tree went +crashing down, the French and their Indian allies, nine hundred +strong, came in sight, and opened a scattering fire upon the fort, but +from so great a distance as made it little more than an idle waste of +powder and lead. Suspecting this to be but a feint of the crafty foe +to decoy them into an ambuscade, Washington ordered his men to keep +within the shelter of the fort, there to lie close, and only to shoot +when they could plainly see where their bullets were to be sent. + +A light skirmishing was kept up all day, and until a late hour in the +night; the Indians keeping the while within the shelter of the woods, +which at no point came within sixty yards of the palisades. Whenever +an Indian scalp-lock or a French cap showed itself from among the +trees or bushes, it that instant became the mark of a dozen +sharpshooters watching at the rifle-holes of the fort. All that day, +and all the night too, the rain poured down from one black cloud, as +only a summer ruin can pour, till the ditches were filled with water, +and the breastworks nothing but a bank of miry clay; till the men were +drenched to the skin, and the guns of many so dampened as to be unfit +for use. + +About nine o'clock that night, the firing ceased; and shortly after a +voice was heard, a little distance beyond the palisades, calling upon +the garrison, in the name of Capt. de Villiers, to surrender. +Suspecting this to be but a pretext for getting a spy into the fort, +Col. Washington refused to admit the bearer of the summons. Capt. de +Villiers then requested that an officer be sent to his quarters to +parley; giving his word of honor that no mischief should befall him, +or unfair advantage be taken of it. Whereupon, Capt. Van Braam, the +old Dutch fencing-master, being the only French interpreter +conveniently at hand, was employed to go and bring in the terms of +surrender. He soon came back; but the terms were too dishonorable for +any true soldier to think of accepting. He was sent again, but with no +better result. The third time, Capt. de Villiers sent written articles +of capitulation; which, being in his own language, must needs be first +translated before an answer could be returned. By the flickering light +of one poor candle, which could hardly be kept burning for the pouring +rain, the Dutch captain read the terms he had brought, while the rest +stood round him, gathering what sense they could from the confused +jumbling of bad French, and worse English he was pleased to call a +translation. After this, there followed a little more parleying +between the hostile leaders; when it was at last settled that the +prisoners taken in the Jumonville affair should be set at liberty; +that the English should build no forts upon the disputed territories +within a twelvemonth to come; and that the garrison, after destroying +the artillery and military stores, should be allowed to march out with +all the honors of war, and pursue their way to the settlements, +unmolested either by the French or their Indian allies. When we take +into account the more than double strength of the enemy, the starving +condition of the garrison (still further weakened as it was by the +loss of twelve men killed and forty-three wounded), and the slender +hope of speedy succor from the settlements, these terms must be +regarded as highly honorable to Col. Washington; and still more so +when we add to this the fact, that the Half King and his other Indian +allies had deserted him at the first approach of danger, under the +pretext of finding some safer retreat for their wives and children. +Whether they failed from choice, or hinderance to return, and take +part in the action, can never now be known with certainty. + +Thus the dreary night wore away; and, when the dreary morning dawned, +they destroyed the artillery and the military stores, preparatory to +their setting forth on their retreat. As all the horses had been +killed or lost the day before, they had no means of removing their +heavy baggage: they therefore secured it as best they might, hoping to +be able to send back for it from the settlements. Still in possession +of their small-arms, they then marched out of the fort with all the +honors of war,--fifes playing, drums beating, and colors flying. They +had gone but a few yards from the fort, when a large body of Indians +pounced with plundering hands upon the baggage. Seeing that the French +could not or would not keep them back, Washington, to disappoint them +of their booty, ordered his men to set fire to it, and destroy all +they could not bring away upon their backs. + +This done, they once more took up their line of march; and a +melancholy march it was. Between them and the nearest settlements, +there lay seventy miles of steep and rugged mountain-roads, over which +they must drag their weary and aching limbs before they could hope to +find a little rest. Washington did all that a kind and thoughtful +commander could to keep up the flagging spirits of his men; sharing +with them their every toil and privation, and all the while +maintaining a firm and cheerful demeanor. Reaching Wills's Creek, he +there left them to enjoy the full abundance which they found awaiting +them at that place; and, in company with Capt. Mackay, repaired at +once to Williamsburg to report the result of the campaign to Gov. +Dinwiddie. + +A short time after, the terms of surrender were laid before the +Virginia House of Burgesses, and received the entire approval of that +wise body; who, although the expedition had ended in defeat and +failure, most cheerfully gave Col. Washington and his men a vote of +thanks, in testimony of their having done their whole duty as good and +brave and faithful soldiers. + + + + +XIV. + +GENERAL BRADDOCK. + + +Having brought the campaign to an honorable if not successful end, +Col. Washington threw up his commission, and left the service. This +had been his determination for some time past; and he felt that he +could do so now without laying his conduct open to censure or +suspicion, having within his own breast the happy assurance, that, in +the discharge of his late trust, he had acted the part of a faithful +soldier and true patriot, seeking only his country's good. The reasons +that led him to take this step need not be repeated, as you will +readily understand them, if you still bear in mind what I told you a +short time since touching those questions of rank which caused the +difficulty between him and Capt. Mackay. + +A visit to his much-beloved mother was the first use he made of his +leisure. The profound love and reverence that never failed to mark his +conduct towards his mother were among the most beautiful traits of his +character. The management of the family estate, and the education of +the younger children, were concerns in which he ever took the +liveliest interest; and to make these labors light and easy to her by +his aid or counsel was a pleasure to him indeed. This grateful duty +duly done, he once more sought the shelter of Mount Vernon, to whose +comforts he had been for so many months a stranger. The toils of a +soldier's life were now exchanged for the peaceful labors of a +husbandman. Nor did this change, to his well-ordered mind, bring with +it any idle regrets; for the quiet pursuits of a farmer's life yielded +him, young, ardent, and adventurous as he was, scarcely less delight +than the profession of arms, and even more as he grew in years. + +The affair of the Great Meadows roused the mother-country at last to a +full sense of the danger that threatened her possessions in America. +Accordingly, to regain what had been lost, money, and munitions of +war, and a gallant little army fitted out in the completest style of +that day, were sent over with all possible expedition, under the +command of Major-Gen. Braddock. + +From the shrubby heights of Mount Vernon, Washington could look down, +and behold the British ships-of-war as they moved slowly up the +majestic Potomac, their decks thronged with officers and soldiers +dressed in showy uniform, their polished arms and accoutrements +flashing back the cold, clear light of the February sun. From their +encampment at Alexandria, a few miles distant, he could hear the +booming of their morning and evening guns, as it came roiling over the +hills and through the woods, and shook his quiet home like a sullen +summons to arms. Often, no longer able to keep down his youthful +ardor, he would mount his horse, and, galloping up to the town, spend +hours there in watching the different companies, as with the precision +of clockwork they went through their varied and difficult evolutions. +At these sights and sounds, all the martial spirit within him took +fire again. + +To Gen. Braddock, who commanded all the forces in America, provincial +as well as royal, Gov. Dinwiddie and other Virginia notables spoke in +the highest terms of the character of young Washington; giving him at +the same time still further particulars of the brave and soldierly +conduct he had so signally shown during the campaign of the previous +year. They took pleasure, they said, in recommending him as one whose +skill and experience in Indian warfare, and thorough acquaintance with +the wild country beyond the borders, were such as could be turned to +the greatest advantage in the course of the following campaign. + +Desirous of securing services of such peculiar value, Braddock sent +our young Virginian a courteous invitation to join his staff; offering +him the post of volunteer aide-de-camp, with the rank of colonel. Here +was an opportunity of gratifying his taste for arms under one of the +first generals of the day. Could he do it without the sacrifice of +honor or self-respect? Although he had left the service for the best +of reasons, as you must bear in mind, yet there was nothing in these +reasons to hinder him from serving his country, not for pay, but as a +generous volunteer, bearing his own expenses. Besides, such a post as +this would place him altogether above the authority of any equal or +inferior officer who might chance to hold a king's commission. +Debating thus with himself, and urged on by his friends, he accepted +Braddock's invitation, and joined his staff as volunteer aide-de-camp. + +Now, would you know what an aide-de-camp is? Wait, and you will find +out for yourselves when we come to the battle of the Monongahela, +where Braddock suffered his gallant little army to be cut to pieces by +the French and Indians. + +When Mrs. Washington heard that her son was on the eve of joining the +new army, full of a mother's fears, she hastened to entreat him not +again to expose himself to the dangers and trials of a soldier's life. +Although the army was the only opening to distinction at that time in +the Colonies, yet, to have him ever near her, she would rather have +seen him quietly settled at his beautiful homestead, as an +unpretending farmer, than on the high road to every worldly honor at +the risk of life or virtue. Ever mindful of her slightest wishes, her +son listened respectfully to all her objections, and said all he could +to quiet her motherly fears: but, feeling that he owed his highest +duty to his country, he was not to be turned from his steadfast +purpose; and, taking an affectionate leave of her, he set out to join +his general at Fort Cumberland. + +Fort Cumberland was situated on Wills's Creek, and had just been built +by Braddock as a gathering point for the border; and thither he had +removed his whole army, with all his stores, and munitions of war. +Upon further acquaintance, Washington found this old veteran a man of +courteous though somewhat haughty manners, of a hasty and uneven +temper, strict and rigid in the discipline of his soldiers, much given +to martial pomp and parade, and self-conceited and wilful to a degree +that was sometimes scarcely bearable. He was, however, of a sociable +and hospitable turn; often inviting his officers to dine with him, and +entertaining them like princes. So keen a relish had he for the good +things of the table, that he never travelled without his two cooks, +who were said to have been so uncommonly skilful in their line of +business, that they could take a pair of boots, and boil them down +into a very respectable dish of soup, give them only the seasoning to +finish it off with. The little folks, however, must be very cautious +how they receive this story, as their Uncle Juvinell will not +undertake to vouch for the truth of it. + +The contractors--that is to say, the men who had been engaged to +furnish the army with a certain number of horses, pack-saddles, and +wagons, by a certain time, and for a certain consideration--had failed +to be as good as their word, and had thereby seriously hindered the +progress of the campaign. As might have been expected, this was enough +to throw such a man as Braddock into a towering passion; and, to mend +his humor, the governors of the different provinces were not as ready +and brisk to answer his call for men and supplies as he thought he had +a right to expect. + +So he poured forth his vials of wrath upon whomsoever or whatsoever +chanced to come uppermost. He stormed at the contractors; he railed at +the governors, and sneered at the troops they sent him; he abused the +country in general, and scolded about the bad roads in particular. + +Washington, with his usual clearness of insight into character, soon +saw, to his deep disappointment, that this was hardly the man to +conduct a wilderness campaign to any thing like a successful end, +however brave the testy old veteran might be, and expert in the +management of well-drilled regulars in the open and cultivated regions +of the Old World. Of the same opinion was Dr. Franklin, who, being at +that time Postmaster-General of all the Colonies, came to Braddock's +quarters at Fort Cumberland to make some arrangements for transporting +the mail to and from the army during the progress of the expedition. I +will read you his own lively account of this interview, as it will +enable you to see more clearly those faults of Braddock's character +that so soon after brought ruin on his own head, and disgrace upon +English arms in America. + + "In conversation with him one day, he was giving me some + account of his intended progress. 'After taking Fort Duquesne,' + said he, 'I am to proceed to Niagara; and, having taken that, + to Frontenac, if the season will allow; and I suppose it will, + for Duquesne can hardly detain me above three or four days: and + then I can see nothing that can obstruct my march to Niagara.' + + "Having before revolved in my mind the long line his army must + make in their march by a very narrow road to be cut for them + through the woods and bushes, and also what I had heard of a + former defeat of fifteen hundred French who invaded the + Illinois country, I had conceived some doubts and some fears + for the event of the campaign; but I ventured only to say, 'To + be sure, sir, if you arrive well before Duquesne with these + fine troops, so well provided with artillery, the fort, though + completely fortified and assisted with a very strong garrison, + can probably make but a short resistance. The only danger I + apprehend of obstruction to your march is from the ambuscades + of the Indians, who, by constant practice, are dexterous in + laying and executing them; and the slender line, nearly four + miles long, which your army must make, may expose it to be + attacked by surprise on its flanks, and to be cut like thread + into several pieces, which, from their distance, cannot come up + in time to support one another.' He smiled at my ignorance, and + replied,"'These savages may, indeed, be a formidable enemy to + raw American militia; but upon the king's regular and + disciplined troops, sir, it is impossible they should make an + impression.' + + "I was conscious of an impropriety in my disputing with a + military man in matters of his profession, and said no more." + +In the course of this interview, Franklin chanced to express a regret +that the army had not been landed in Pennsylvania, where, as every +farmer kept his own wagon and horses, better means would have been +more readily found for transporting the troops, with their heavy guns +and munitions of war, across the country and over the mountains. Quick +to take a hint, Braddock made haste to request him, as a man of +standing in his colony, to furnish him, in the king's name, one +hundred and fifty wagons, and four horses to each wagon, besides a +large number of pack-horses and pack-saddles. This, Franklin readily +undertook to do; and went about it with such diligence, that by the +latter part of spring, even before the time set, he had fulfilled his +promise to the last letter; and Braddock had now the satisfaction of +seeing his army, after all these vexatious delays, in a condition to +move forward. + +Meanwhile, Washington was all attention to affairs in camp, and was +daily gaining fresh insight into the art of war, as understood and +practised in the most civilized countries of the Old World. Every day +the men were drilled, and passed under review; their arms and +accoutrements carefully inspected by their officers, to make sure that +they were in perfect order, and ready for use at a moment's notice. +Sentinels and guards were stationed in and about the camp, day and +night. + +So strict was the watch kept by this lynx-eyed old general over the +morals of his men, that drunkenness was punished with severe +confinement; and any one found guilty of theft was drummed out of his +regiment, after receiving five hundred stripes on his bare back. Every +Sunday, the soldiers were called together, under the colors of their +separate regiments, to hear divine service performed by their +chaplains. + +To lend variety to the scene, the Indians of the neighboring +wilderness came flocking in to join their fortunes with the English, +or bring information of the movements or designs of the French. Among +these came his old friend and ally, White Thunder, keeper of the +speech-belt; and Silver Heels, a renowned warrior, so called, no +doubt, from his being uncommonly nimble of foot. Also, as we shall +meet him again hereafter, should be mentioned another sachem, whose +Indian name the little folks must excuse their Uncle Juvinell from +giving them in full. By your leave, then, for the sake of brevity and +convenience, we will call him by the last two syllables of his name, +Yadi. From them Washington learned, much to his regret, that his red +brother, the Half King, had died a few months before; having, as the +conjurors or medicine-men of his tribe pretended, been bewitched by +the French for the terrible blow he had dealt them at the battle of +Jumonville, which had filled them with such terror, that they dared +not hope for safety in the wide earth till certain that he walked and +ate and slept no more among living men. + +Although Braddock held these savage allies in high contempt, yet when +Washington pointed out to him how much was to be gained by their +friendship, and how much to be lost by their enmity, he was persuaded, +for that one time at least, to treat them with marked respect and +distinction. + +To give them an overwhelming idea of the power and splendor of English +arms, he received them with all the honors of war,--fifes playing, +drums beating, and the regulars lowering their muskets as they passed +on to the general's tent. Here Braddock received them in the midst of +his officers, and made them a speech of welcome, in the course of +which he told them of the deep sorrow felt by their great father, the +King of England, for the death of his red brother, the Half King; and +that, to console his red children in America for so grievous a loss, +as well as to reward them for their friendship and services to the +English, he had sent them many rich and handsome presents, which they +should receive before leaving the fort. This speech was answered by a +dozen warriors in as many orations, which being very long and very +flowery, and very little to the point, bored their English listeners +dreadfully. The peace-pipe smoked and the Big Talk ended, Braddock, by +way of putting a cap on the grand occasion, ordered all the fifes to +play, and drums to beat, and, in the midst of the music, all the guns +in the fort to be fired at once. He then caused a bullock to be +killed, and roasted whole, for the refreshment of his Indian guests. + +The Indians, in their turn, to show how sensible they were of the +honor done them by this distinguished reception, entertained the +English by dancing their war-dances and singing their war-songs: by +which you are to understand that they jumped and whirled and capered +about in a thousand outlandish antics till they grew limber and weak +in the knees, and yelped and bellowed and howled till their bodies +were almost empty of breath; when, from very exhaustion, they hushed +their barbarous din, and night and slumber fell on the camp. In the +daytime, these lords of the forest, tricked out in all their savage +finery, their faces streaked with war-paint and their scalp-locks +brave with gay bunches of feathers, would stalk about the fort, big +with wonder over every thing they saw. Now and then, they would follow +with admiring eyes the rapid and skilful movement of the red-coated +regulars, as one or other of the regiments, like some huge machine, +went through their martial exercises; or, standing on the ramparts, +they would watch with still keener zest and interest the young +officers as they amused themselves by racing their horses outside the +fort. + +As ill luck would have it, these warriors had brought with them their +wives and children, among whom were many very pretty Indian girls, +with plump, round forms, little hands and feet, and beady, roguish +eyes. As female society was not by any means one of the charms of life +at Fort Cumberland, the coming of these wild beauties was hailed with +the liveliest delight by the young English officers, who, the moment +they laid eyes on them, fell to loving them to desperation. First +among these forest belles was one who went by the expressive name of +Bright Lightning; so called, no doubt, from being the favorite +daughter of White Thunder. It being noised abroad that she was a +savage princess of the very first blood, she, of course, at once +became the centre of fashionable attraction, and the leading toast of +all the young blades in camp. No sooner, however, did the warriors get +wind of these gallantries, than they were quite beside themselves with +rage and jealousy, and straightway put an end to them; making the +erring fair ones pack off home, bag and baggage, sorely to their +disappointment, as well as to that of the young British lions, who +were quite inconsolable for their loss. + +This scandalous behavior on the part of the English--of which, +however, your Uncle Juvinell may have spoken more lightly than he +ought--was, as you may well believe, very disgusting to Washington, +who was a young man of the purest thoughts and habits. As may be +naturally supposed, it gave deep and lasting offence to the sachems; +and when to this is coupled the fact, that their wishes and opinions +touching war-matters were never heeded or consulted, we cannot wonder +that they one by one forsook the English, with all their warriors, and +came no more. + +Foreseeing this, and well knowing what valuable service these people +could render as scouts and spies, Washington had gone to Braddock, +time and again, warning him to treat them with more regard to their +peculiar whims and customs, if he did not wish to lose the advantages +to be expected from their friendship, or bring upon him the terrible +consequences of their enmity. As this wise and timely advice came from +a young provincial colonel, the wrong-headed old general treated it, +of course, with high disdain, and to the last remained obstinate in +the belief that he could march to the very heart of the continent +without meeting an enemy who could withstand his well-drilled regulars +and fine artillery. + +And thus, my dear children, did this rash and wilful man cast lightly +away the golden opportunity, wherein, by a few kind words, or tokens +of respect, he could have gained the lasting friendship of this +much-despised race, and thereby made them, in all human likelihood, +the humble means of saving from early destruction the finest army, +which, up to that time, had carried its banners to the Western World. + + + + +XV. + +ROUGH WORK. + + +At last, all things were got in readiness; and the gallant little army +began its toilsome march through the forest, and over the mountains, +and up and down the valleys. Beside the regulars, fourteen hundred +strong, it consisted of two companies of hatchet-men, or carpenters, +whose business it was to go on before, and open the road; a small +company of seamen, who had the care and management of the artillery; +six companies of rangers, some of whom were Pennsylvanians; and two +companies of light horse, which, being composed of young men taken +from the very first families of Virginia, Braddock had chosen to be +his body-guard: the whole numbering two thousand, or thereabouts. + +Owing to the difficulty of dragging the loaded wagons and heavy guns +over the steep and rocky roads, the march was slow and tedious in the +extreme; and what made it still more trying to Washington's patience +was to see so many wagons and pack-horses loaded down with the private +baggage of the English officers,--such as fine clothing, table +dainties, and a hundred little troublesome conveniences, which they +must needs lug about with them wherever they went. Weeks before they +left Fort Cumberland, Washington had pointed out to Braddock the folly +of attempting to cross that monstrous mountain barrier with a cumbrous +train of wheel-carriages; and expressed the opinion, that, for the +present, they had better leave the bulk of their baggage and their +heaviest artillery, and, trusting entirely to pack-horses for +transporting what should be needed most, make their way at once to +Fort Duquesne while the garrison was yet too weak to offer any +resistance. This prudent counsel, however, as usual, had failed to +produce the least effect on the narrow and stubborn mind of Braddock; +but by the time he had dragged his unwieldy length over two or three +mountains, and had made but a few miles in many days, it began to dawn +on his mind by slow degrees, that a campaign in an American wilderness +was a very different thing from what it was in the cultivated regions +of Europe, where nearly every meadow, field, or wood, could tell of a +Christian and civilized battle there fought, and where the fine roads +and bridges made the march of an army a mere holiday jaunt as compared +to this rough service. The difficulties that beset him seeming to +thicken around him at every step, he was at last so sorely put to it +and perplexed as to be obliged to turn to the young provincial +colonel for that advice which he, in his blind self-confidence, had +but a short while before disdained. + +Too well bred to seem surprised at this unbending of the haughty old +general, although he really was not a little, Washington readily, yet +with all becoming modesty, did as he was desired, in a clear, brief, +and soldierly manner. He gave it as his opinion, that their best plan +would be to divide the army into two parts,--the smaller division, +under command of Col. Dunbar, to form the rear, and bring up the heavy +guns and baggage-wagons; the larger division, under the command of +Braddock, to form the advance, and taking with it but two pieces of +light artillery, and no more baggage than could be conveniently +carried on pack-horses, push rapidly on to Fort Duquesne, and surprise +the garrison before they could receive timely warning of their danger, +or be re-enforced by the troops from Canada, which would have arrived +ere then, had not the summer drought prevented. To some extent, this +prudent advice was followed; and, to give it the force of example, +Washington reduced his baggage to a few little necessaries that he +could easily carry in a small portmanteau strapped to his back, and +gave his fine charger to be used as a pack-horse. His brother +provincial officers, accustomed as they were to dealing with the +difficulties and inconveniences of a backwoods life, in a ready, +off-hand fashion, followed his example with the greatest willingness +and good-humor. Notwithstanding this, however, there were still two +hundred pack-horses loaded with the private baggage of the English +officers, who were unwilling, even in that hour of pressing need, to +make this little sacrifice of their present comfort to the common +good. So tender did they seem of their bodily ease, and so given up to +the pleasures of appetite, that Washington began to have serious +doubts of their fitness to endure the hardships of a rough campaign, +and of their courage and firmness to face the dangers of the +battle-field. + +One evening late, about this time, as the army lay encamped at the +Little Meadows, there suddenly appeared among them, from the +neighboring woods, a large party of hunters, all Pennsylvanians, +dressed in the wild garb of Indians, and armed with hatchets, knives, +and rifles. Their leader was a certain Capt. Jack, one of the greatest +hunters of his day, and nearly as famous in the border tales of +Pennsylvania as Daniel Boone in those of green Kentucky. When your +Uncle Juvinell was quite a lad, he read the story of this strange man, +in an old book, which pleased and interested him so much at the time, +that he has never since forgotten it, and will now repeat it to you in +the very words of the old chronicler:-- + + "The 'Black Hunter,' the 'Black Rifle,' the 'Wild Hunter of + Juniata,' is a white man. His history is this: He entered the + woods with a few enterprising companions, built his cabin, + cleared a little land, and amused himself with the pleasure of + fishing and hunting. He felt happy; for then he had not a care. + But on an evening, when he returned from a day of sport, he + found his cabin burnt, his wife and children murdered. From + that moment he forsakes civilized man, hunts out caves in which + he lives, protects the frontier inhabitants from the Indians, + and seizes every opportunity of revenge that offers. He lives + the terror of the Indians, and the consolation of the whites. + On one occasion, near Juniata, in the middle of a dark night, a + family were suddenly awaked from sleep by the report of a gun. + They jumped from their huts; and, by the glimmering light from + the chimney, saw an Indian fall to rise no more. The open door + exposed to view the Wild Hunter. 'I have saved your lives!' he + cried; then turned, and was buried in the gloom of night." + +Bidding his leather-stockings to wait where they were till he came +back, the Black Hunter strode on to the general's tent, and, without +more ado than to enter, made known the object of his coming there, in +a speech that smacked somewhat of the Indian style of oratory; which I +will give you, as nearly as I can, in his own words:-- + + "Englishmen, the foe is on the watch. He lurks in the + strongholds of the mountains. He hides in the shadows of the + forest. He hovers over you like a hungry vulture ready to + pounce upon its prey. He has made a boast that he will keep his + eye upon you, from his look-outs on the hills, day and night, + till you have walked into his snare, when he will shoot down + your gay red-birds like pigeons. Englishmen, dangers thicken + round you at every step; but in the pride of your strength you + have blinded your eyes, so that you see them not. I have + brought my hunters, who are brave and trusty men, to serve you + as scouts and spies. In your front and in your rear, and on + either hand, we will scour the woods, and beat the bushes, to + stir up the lurking foe, that your gallant men fall not into + his murderous ambuscade. To us the secret places of the + wilderness are as an open book; in its depths we have made our + homes this many a year: there we can find both food and + shelter. We ask no pay, and our rifles are all our own." + +To this noble and disinterested offer, Braddock returned a cold and +haughty answer. + + "There is time enough," said he, "for making such arrangements; + and I have experienced troops on whom I can rely." + +Stung to the quick by this uncivil and ungenerous treatment, the Black +Hunter, without another word, turned, and, with a kindling eye and +proud step, left the tent. When he told his followers of the scornful +manner in which the English general had treated their leader, and +rejected their offer of service, they staid not, but, with angry and +indignant mien, filed out of the camp, and, plunging once more into +the wilderness, left the devoted little army to march on to that +destruction to which its ill-starred commander seemed so fatally bent +on leading it. The contemptuous indifference which always marked the +demeanor of Braddock towards these rude but brave and trusty warriors +of the woods was very offensive to Washington; the more, as he knew, +that, when it came to be put to the test, these men, unskilled though +they were in the modes of civilized warfare, would be found far better +fitted to cope with the cunning and stealthy enemy they had then to +deal with, than those well-dressed, well-armed, well-drilled, but +unwieldy regulars. + +After having rested a few days at the Little Meadows, the advanced +division of the army once more took up the line of march; but, to +Washington's disappointment, made scarcely better speed than before, +although lightened of nearly all of the heavy baggage. "I found," +wrote he a short time after, "that, instead of pushing on with vigor, +we were halting to level every mole-hill, and erect bridges over every +brook; by which means we were sometimes four days in getting twelve +miles." Slowly the long and straggling lines held on their weary way, +now scrambling over some rugged steep, now winding along some narrow +defile, till at length the silence of that gloomy vale--the Shades of +Death--was again broken by the shouts and uproar of a marching army. + +For several days, Washington had been suffering much from fever, +attended with a racking headache, which had obliged him to travel in a +covered wagon. By the time they reached the great crossings of the +Youghiogeny, his illness had so increased, that Dr. Craik, his good +friend and physician, declared it would be almost certain death for +him to travel further; at the same time advising him to stay where he +was until his fever should somewhat abate its violence, when he could +come up with Dunbar's rear division. His brother officers also, and +even his old general, kindly urged him to give up all thought of going +on for the present; while, to render his disappointment more bearable, +some of them promised to keep him informed, by writing, of every thing +noteworthy which should happen in the course of their march. Seeing +then; was no help for it, he suffered himself to be left behind: but +it was with a sad and heavy heart that, he saw them pass on without +him; and when they had vanished, one by one, in the shadows of the +neighboring wilds, and the gleaming of their arms could no longer be +seen through the openings of the trees and bushes, he turned with a +sigh, and said to the men whom Braddock had left to nurse and guard +him, "I would not for five hundred pounds miss being at the taking of +Fort Duquesne." Here he lay for ten days; his fever, no doubt, much +aggravated by his impatience to rejoin his comrades, and the fear lest +he should not be well in time to share with them the dangers and +honors of the coming contest. + +Meanwhile, Braddock pursued his slow and tedious march, and in a few +days had passed the Great Meadows, where young Washington, the year +before, as you must well remember, had learned his first lessons in +the rude art of war. A few miles beyond this, he came to a deserted +Indian camp, on the top of a rocky hill, where, to judge from the +number of wigwams, at least one hundred and seventy warriors must have +lodged. The fires were still burning; which showed but too plainly +that the stealthy foe was on the watch, and not far distant. Some of +the trees hard by had been stripped of their bark; and on their white, +sappy trunks were to be seen, in the rude picture-writing of the +Indians, savage taunts and threats of vengeance meant for the English; +while intermixed with these were bullying boasts and blackguard slang, +written in the French language, as if to force on the notice of those +who were to read them the fact, that there were white as well as red +men lurking near. + +It had almost slipped my mind to tell you, that Braddock, moved +perhaps by the advice of Washington, had, before setting out from Fort +Cumberland, employed a small party of Indians, with their sachem Yadi +at their head, to serve as guides and spies during the campaign. A few +days after passing the deserted camp on the rock, four or five +soldiers, straggling too far in the rear, were suddenly waylaid by the +prowling foe, and all murdered and scalped on the spot. + +To avenge the death of their comrades, a squad of regulars went out +in quest of the enemy, and soon came in sight of a small party of +Indians, who held up the boughs of trees before them, and stood their +rifles on the ground, as a sign that they were friends. Not +understanding this, however, and the distance being too great for them +to make out who they were, the blundering regulars fired, and one of +the party fell dead on the spot,--a youthful warrior, who proved to be +the son of the sachem Yadi. When Braddock heard of this melancholy +accident, he was deeply grieved. He forthwith sent for the bereaved +father, and, to his praise be it ever recorded, endeavored, by kind +words and liberal presents, to console him, and make some little +amends for his heavy loss; and, as a still further token of his +regard, he ordered the hapless youth to be buried with all the honors +of war. The body, borne on a bier, was followed by the officers, two +and two; while the soldiers, drawn up in two lines, with the grave +between them, stood facing each other, with the points of their +muskets turned downward, and their chins resting in the hollow of the +breeches. When the body was lowered, they fired three volleys over the +grave, and left the young warrior to his long sleep on the hillside, +with his bright hatchet and trusty rifle beside him. All this was very +soothing to the sorrow and gratifying to the fatherly pride of the old +sachem, and made him ever after a loving friend and faithful ally of +the English. I have told you this little story to show you, that this +testy and obstinate old general, with all his faults, was far from +being the hard, unfeeling man that he sometimes seemed; and also as a +tribute that every historian should pay to the memory of one whose +misfortune it has been to be blamed so much, and pitied so little. + +By this time, Washington had so far regained his strength as to admit +of his being borne along in a covered wagon; and, setting out +accordingly, in five days came up with the advance division, where it +lay encamped in a beautiful spot about two miles from the Monongahela, +and fifteen miles from Fort Duquesne. Here he was joyfully welcomed by +both officers and men, with whom his generosity, and frank, manly +bearing, had made him a great favorite. Shortly after his arrival, Mr. +Gist and two Indian scouts, who had been sent out to reconnoitre or +spy out the enemy, came back with the cheering tidings, that the +re-enforcements had not yet come down from Canada, and that the +garrison in the fort was at present too weak to stand a single hour's +siege. But what gave him a little uneasiness was a lofty column of +smoke, rising from a deep and densely wooded hollow, where they were +quite sure the watchful enemy was lurking, and hatching some mischief +for the English. + +Now, the fort and the camp lay on the same side of the river; and the +most direct route between them was by a narrow mountain pass, rising +abruptly from the water's edge on the left, and, on the right, shut +in by a steep and lofty hill, whose stony sides were overgrown with +laurel and stunted cedars and pines. As it was altogether out of the +question to drag their wagons and artillery along this pass, it was +resolved to cross the river, first at a point just over against the +camp, and then, moving down along the opposite bank, recross it at +another point five miles below; at both of which places the fords were +shallow, and the banks not high. + +At last, the 9th of July, 1755,--a day ever to be remembered in +American annals,--began to dawn. Long before its first red light had +streaked the east, a hum in the camp told that the little army was, +even at that hour, all astir, and big with the bustle of preparation. +Officers and men were in the highest hopes, and looked forward with +confidence to the coming evening, when they were to plant their +victorious banners on the ramparts of Fort Duquesne. Although they had +marched thus far without serious molestation, yet Col. Washington's +fears of an ambuscade were not a whit diminished; for he felt quite +certain that they should never reach the French fort without an +attempt being made to surprise, or drive them back. Full of these +apprehensions, he went to Gen. Braddock, and, pointing out to him the +danger hanging over them, urged him by all means to send out the +Virginia rangers to scour the woods and thickets, front and flank, and +beat up the enemy, should any chance to be lurking near with the +design of drawing them into an ambuscade. No advice, as it afterwards +turned out, could have been more timely: but, coming from a raw +provincial colonel, Braddock cast it aside with angry impatience; and +when the line of march was formed, as if to show in what light esteem +he held it, he ordered the rangers to the rear, to guard the baggage. +Before daybreak, a large party of pioneers, or road-cutters, with a +small guard of regulars, numbering in all about three hundred, had +gone on before to open a passage for the army through the woods, and +make the fords more passable by levelling the banks. + +The midsummer sun was shooting its first beams, level and red, among +the Alleghany hills, when the little army, having crossed the +Monongahela at the upper ford, stood on its southern bank, forming in +line of march. By order of their general, officers and men had scoured +and polished their arms and accoutrements the night before; and now +appeared in full uniform, as if some grand military parade were to be +the programme of the day. The whole line was soon moving slowly +forward, with fifes playing, drums beating, and colors flying; the +regulars keeping step the while to the "Grenadier's March." In the +clear and tranquil depths of the river, as they moved along its shady +banks, could be seen, as in a mirror, the long array of +leather-shirted rangers and red-coated regulars, with their sun-lit +arms and prancing steeds, and bright banners that floated in the +morning breeze. This brilliant spectacle, so well set off by the +smiling river in front and the frowning woods beyond, formed a picture +that ever lived in the memory of Washington; and in after-years he +used often to say, that, as it then appeared to him, he thought he had +never seen any thing so beautiful. In the enthusiasm of the moment, he +forgot his late illness, the still enfeebled condition of his +body,--all, save the glory of serving his country; and, mounting his +horse, he joined his brother-aides in their attendance on their +general, else far more fatal must have been the end of that bloody +day. + + + + +XVI. + +BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT. + + +In my account of this battle, as well as all the others that will come +thundering in upon us from time to time in the course of our story, I +have thought it would suit our purpose best to touch upon those facts +only that are likeliest to leave the most lasting pictures of such +events on your minds; using the while no more words than may actually +be needed to give clearness and completeness to the same. And now, +Daniel, my young Herodotus, and Ned, my young Hannibal, bring in +another Christmas log, that we may have a more cheerful blaze; for our +story will be doleful enough for the next half-hour, without these +goblin shadows dodging and flitting about the room to make it more so. + +At mid-day, Braddock's army came to the lower ford, where a halt was +called to allow of a few minutes' rest. Far in front, across the +river, the ringing of a hundred axes, followed at short intervals by +the crash of falling trees, could be distinctly heard; telling that +the pioneers were there, working might and main to clear a passage for +those behind. The road just opened, after leaving the ford, ran +across a heavily wooded bottom that skirted the river; and thence, for +a few hundred yards, up a rocky slope to the foot of a high range of +hills, about a mile distant, where it entered a narrow, bushy defile, +and went no further. The country, for miles and miles around, as far +as the eye could reach, was thickly wooded, save the rocky slope just +mentioned, and the neighboring ravines, which were overgrown with +long, coarse grass and whortleberry-bushes, so high as to sweep the +horses' bellies; with here and there a few scattering trees of some +size. It was the very place, of all others, that the wily Indian would +be most likely to choose for his ambuscade. + +By two o'clock, the whole army had regained the northern bank of the +river. They were now within ten miles of Fort Duquesne, and a lucky +end to their present campaign seemed near at hand. In a few minutes, +artillery and baggage, foot and horse, regulars and rangers, formed +into separate and distinct columns, stood ready to move as soon as the +word should be given. Just at the moment, however, when they were +listening to hear the order, "Forward, march!" drop from their +general's lips, they were startled by a sudden and heavy firing among +the hills, which put a sudden stop to the hundred axes, and told but +too plainly that the road-cutters and their guard of regulars had been +drawn into an ambuscade. Washington knew at once, and too well, that +the evil he dreaded from the beginning, had, on the very eve of +success, come upon them; and with it also came the painful reflection, +that it would never have so befallen them, had the rangers been +suffered to scour the woods, and beat up the enemy, as had been +recommended by him but a few hours before. Braddock forthwith ordered +two companies to hurry on to the relief of the pioneers; and, at his +bidding, one of his aides spurred forward to learn further of the +matter, and bring him word. The firing grew heavier and heavier, and +seemed to be coming nearer and nearer. The lonely hills and woods +around rang with the whoops and yells of the unseen savages. Not able +to restrain his impatience till his aide came back, Braddock ordered +his main division to come up at double-quick; and, taking with him his +two remaining aides and a small guard of light-horse, galloped up to +the scene of action. Here what was his rage and mortification to find +his doughty regulars, of whom he had boasted so much, changed, as it +were in the whistling of a bullet, into a mere disorderly rabble of +red-coats,--confused, bewildered, to a degree that he could never have +dreamed possible! Crowded and huddled together in the narrow road, he +saw them dropping down under the Indian bullets, helpless as a herd of +frightened deer beset by a band of unseen hunters. + +By this time, the Indians, still hid from view by the grass and +bushes, had stretched their lines along either side of the road, from +the hollows among the hills to some distance down the rocky slope, and +were pouring in a murderous fire upon the affrighted English; yelling +and whooping the while like a legion of devils at some infernal +frolic. Two bayonet charges had been made to drive them from their +hiding-places, but in vain. The regulars, notwithstanding their +officers' orders to the contrary, kept up a hurried but random firing, +which had little or no effect upon the enemy, as nothing could be seen +of him but the puffs of rifle-smoke that rose and hovered in little +blue clouds over his place of ambush. The English, it is said, were +less appalled by the whistling bullet; of the unseen savages than by +their unearthly yells,--a sound that none of them had ever heard +before, and many a poor fellow of them never heard again. The Indian +war-whoop has been described as a sound so wild and terrible, that, +when once heard in battle, it rings in the listener's ears for weeks +thereafter, and is never forgotten even to his dying day. + +But the English officers, on the contrary, behaved themselves with a +gallantry that filled Washington with astonishment and admiration. +Heretofore he had seen them only in camp or on the line of march, +where their habits of ease and self-indulgence had led him to doubt +their having the courage and firmness to face, without shrinking, +danger in such appalling forms. Unmindful of the bullets that whistled +continually about their heads, they galloped up and down the broken +and bleeding lines, in the vain endeavor to rally their men, and bring +them again to something like order. Mounted on fine horses, and +dressed in rich uniforms, they offered a tempting mark to the unseen +rifles that were levelled at them from behind every tree and bush, and +tuft of grass; and, ere the work of death was finished, many a gallant +steed, with dangling reins and bloody saddle, dashed riderless about +the field. And, as if this were not enough, many of them must needs +fall victims to the unsoldierly conduct of their own men, who, +forgetful of all discipline, and quite beside themselves with terror +and bewilderment, loaded their pieces hurriedly, and fired them off at +random, killing friends as well as foes. Nor did this most shameful +part of the bloody scene end here: many of the Virginia rangers, who +had already taken to the trees and bushes, and were doing good service +by fighting the Indians in their own fashion, were shot down by the +blundering regulars, who fired into the woods wherever they saw a puff +of smoke, unable to distinguish whether it rose from a red or a white +man's rifle. Upon these brave rangers the brunt of the battle fell; +and indeed, had it not been for their firmness and presence of mind, +their skill and address in the arts and strategems of Indian warfare, +which enabled them for a time to hold the enemy in check, hardly a +remnant of Braddock's fine army would have survived to behold the +going-down of that summer's sun. + +At the very commencement of the battle, a small party of warriors, +cheered on by a French officer in a fancifully trimmed hunting-shirt, +had leaped out from their covert into the road, with the view, it +seemed, of cutting off those in front from the assistance of their +comrades in the rear; but the regulars, who guarded the road-cutters, +having discharged a well-aimed volley of musketry into their very +faces, they had turned, and fled with even more haste than they had +come, leaving behind them several of their number dead on the spot, +and among these their dashing French leader. After that, they had +taken care to keep close under cover of the grass and bushes. Now and +then, however, a tall brave, grim and hideous with war-paint, with a +yell of defiance would leap from his ambush, and, darting into the +road, tomahawk and scalp a wounded officer just fallen; then vanish +again as suddenly as if the earth had opened to swallow him up. + +All this while, Col. Washington had borne himself with a firmness, +courage, and presence of mind, that would have done honor to a +forty-years' veteran. His two brother aides-de-camp having been +wounded early in the engagement, the whole duty of carrying the +general's orders had fallen on him; and nobly did he that day +discharge it. Although brave men were falling thick and fast on every +side, yet he shrank from no exposure, however perilous, did his duty +but lead him there. Mounted on horseback, his tall and stately form +was to be seen in every part of the field, the mark of a hundred +rifles, whose deadly muzzles were pointed at him whithersoever he +went. Two horses were shot dead under him, and his coat was pierced +with bullets; but he seemed to bear about him a charmed life, and went +unharmed. His danger was so great, that his friend Dr. Craik, who +watched his movements with anxious interest, looked every moment to +see him fall headlong to the ground; and that he came off alive seemed +to him a miracle. Washington himself, with that piety which ever +marked his character, laid his deliverance from the perils of that +fatal day to the overruling care of a kind and watchful Providence. + +Although brought thus suddenly face to face with new and untried +dangers, Braddock bore himself throughout the day like the valiant man +that he really was. The bullets and yells of the invisible foe he +scarcely noticed, as he galloped hither and thither about the field, +giving his orders through a speaking-trumpet, whose brazen voice rose +loud and hoarse above the din of battle. Under the mistaken notion +that a savage enemy, hid in a thicket, was to be dealt with as a +civilized one in an open plain, he sought to recover his lost ground +by forming his men into companies and battalions; which, however, he +had no sooner done, than they were mowed down by the murderous fire +from the ambush, that had never ceased. "My soldiers," said he, "would +fight, could they but see their enemy; but it is vain to shoot at +trees and bushes." Whereupon Washington urgently besought him to let +his regulars fight the Indians in their own fashion, which would the +better enable them to pick off the lurking foe with less danger to +their own safety. But Braddock's only answer to this was a sneer; and +some of his regulars, who were already acting upon the suggestion, he +angrily ordered back into the ranks, calling them cowards, and even +striking them with the flat of his sword. He then caused the colors of +the two regiments to be advanced in different parts of the field, that +the soldiers might rally around their separate standards. It was all +in vain. In his excitement, he cheered, he entreated, he swore, he +stormed: it was only a waste of breath; for the poor fellows were too +disheartened and broken, too overcome by mortal fear, to rally again. + +Col. Washington, seeing that the day was on the point of being lost, +galloped down to the rear to see if nothing could be done with the +artillery; but he found the gunners in a most disorderly plight, +benumbed with terror, and utterly unable to manage their guns. What +Washington did on this occasion, I had better tell you in the words of +an old Pennsylvania soldier, who was there at the time, and survived +the battle for half a hundred years or more; and used often, for the +entertainment of your Uncle Juvinell and other little boys, to fight +his battles over again as he sat smoking in his chimney corner. + + "I saw Col. Washington," he would say, "spring from his panting + horse, and seize a brass field-piece as if it had been a stick. + His look was terrible. He put his right hand on the muzzle, his + left hand on the breech; he pulled with this, he pushed with + that, and wheeled it round, as if it had been a plaything: it + furrowed the ground like a ploughshare. He tore the sheet-lead + from the touch-hole; then the powder-monkey rushed up with the + fire, when the cannon went off, making the bark fly from the + trees, and many an Indian send up his last yell and bite the + dust." + +This, however, gave the savages but a momentary check, as he could not +follow it up; there being no one by ready and willing to lend him a +helping hand. The Virginia rangers and other provincial troops, who +had done the only good fighting of the day, were thinned out to +one-fourth their number; and the few that remained were too weary and +faint to hold out longer against such fearful odds. Between the +well-aimed firing of the enemy and the random shooting of the +regulars, the slaughter of the English officers had been frightful: +out of the eighty-six who went into the battle, only twenty-four came +off unhurt. Gen. Braddock had five horses killed under him. By this +time, he had given up all hope of regaining the day; and, galling as +it must have been to his proud spirit, was at last forced to think of +retreating as their only chance of safety. Just as he was on the +point, however, of giving orders to this effect, a bullet--said by +some to have been a random shot from one of his own soldiers--passed +through his arm, and, lodging itself in his lungs, brought him to the +ground, mortally wounded. His officers placed him in a tumbrel, or +pioneer's cart, and bore him from the field, where, in his despair, he +prayed them to leave him to die. + +Seeing their leader fall, a fresh panic seized the army. And now +followed a wild and disorderly rout, the like of which was never known +before, and has never since been known, in our border-wars. The +soldiers in front fell back on those in the centre; those in the +centre fell back on those in the rear: till foot and horse, artillery +and baggage, were jammed and jumbled together, making a scene of +dismay and confusion it would be vain for me to attempt to describe. +To add wings to their speed, the Indians, with a long, loud yell of +fiendish triumph, now rushed from their ambush, and, brandishing aloft +their murderous tomahawks, began to press hard on the heels of the +terrified fugitives. The better to elude their savage pursuers, the +regulars threw away their arms, the gunners abandoned their guns, and +the teamsters cut their horses from the traces, and, mounting them, +fled, never halting until they reached Col. Dunbar's camp,--a gallop +of forty miles. A few fell under the tomahawk before the farther bank +of the river could be gained. Here, luckily for the survivors, the +Indians gave over the pursuit, in their eagerness to plunder the +slain, and gather what else of booty might be found on the field. + +Thus ended this bloody battle, or rather slaughter; for in truth it +could be called nothing else. Of the sixteen hundred valiant men who +had that morning, in all the bright array of gleaming arms and waving +banners, marched along the banks of that beautiful river, nearly +one-half, ere the sun went down, had fallen on Braddock's Hill. What +made this disaster more shameful still was the weakness of the enemy's +force, which did not exceed eight hundred, of whom only a fourth were +French; and, of all this number, scarcely forty fell in the fight. + +Col. Washington was now ordered to ride back with all speed to +Dunbar's camp, to fetch horses, wagons, and hospital-stores for the +relief of the wounded. Although still quite weak from his ten days' +fever, which indeed had left him with no more strength than should +have sufficed for the fatigues of that trying day, yet he set out on +the instant, and, taking with him a guard of grenadiers, travelled the +livelong night. What with those terrible sights and sounds still +ringing in his ears, and flashing before his eyes; what with the +thought of the many dead and dying that lay on the lonely hillside far +behind, with their ghastly upturned faces, more ghastly still in the +light of the moon; and what with the bitter, bitter reflection, that +all this would never have been but for the pride and folly of a single +man,--that ride through the dark and silent woods must have been a +melancholy one indeed. He pushed on, without leaving the saddle, till +late in the afternoon of the following day, when he reached Dunbar's +camp; and gathering together, without loss of time, the necessaries +for which he had been sent, started on his return that same night, +scarcely allowing himself and men an hour for food and rest. Early +next morning, he met the main division at Mr. Gist's plantation, +whither they had dragged their shattered lines the evening before. +From thence they all went on together to the Great Meadows, where they +arrived that same day, and halted. + +For the four and twenty hours following the battle, Braddock had +remained sad and silent; never speaking except to say, "Who would have +thought it?" The second day, he seemed more cheerful; for he said, "We +shall better know how to deal with them another time." He spoke in +high praise of the skill and courage shown by the Virginia rangers and +other provincial troops during the whole engagement. He now saw, but +too late, and to his deep regret, that he had not given these rough +and hardy men half the credit due them as good soldiers; and also that +he had made a fatal mistake in underrating the strength, skill, and +address of the enemy he had been sent there to subdue. To Washington +he made a frank and manly apology for the contempt and impatience with +which he had so often treated his prudent and well-timed counsel. As +if wishing to make still further amends for this, he bequeathed to him +his faithful negro servant, Bishop, and his fine white charger, both +of whom had helped to carry their wounded master from the field. On +the fourth day after the battle, he died; having been kindly and +tenderly cared for by Washington and his other surviving officers. + +They dug him a grave by the roadside, not a stone's-throw from Fort +Necessity, in the depths of that lonely wilderness; and there, before +the summer morn had dawned, they buried him. In the absence of the +chaplain, the funeral service was read by Washington, in a low and +solemn voice, by the dim and flickering light of a torch. Fearing lest +the enemy might be lurking near, and, spying out the spot, commit some +outrage on his remains, they fired not a farewell shot over the grave +of their unfortunate general,--that last tribute of respect to a +departed soldier, and one he had himself paid, but a short time +before, to a nameless Indian warrior. So there they laid him; and, to +this day, the great highway leading from Cumberland to Pittsburg goes +by the name of Braddock's Road. + +I would, my dear children, have you dwell on these glimpses of a more +manly and generous nature that brightened the closing hours of +Braddock's life; because it is but Christian and just that we should +be willing to honor virtue in whomsoever it may be found. With all his +self-conceit and obstinacy, he had a kindly heart, and was a brave +man; and had it been his lot to deal with a civilized enemy, instead +of a savage one, he would, no doubt, have proved himself a skilful +general. And we should not deal too harshly with the memory of a man, +whose faults, however great they may have been, were more than atoned +for by the inglorious death he died, and by "a name ever coupled with +defeat." + + + + +XVII. + +EXPLANATIONS. + + +Here, again, Uncle Juvinell paused in his story, and looked beamingly +around on his little auditors. They were all sitting with their eyes +bent earnestly on the burning logs, thinking deeply, no doubt, and +looking as sober as tombstones in the light of a spring morning. + +All on a sudden, Willie leaped from his chair, and gave a shrill +Indian war-whoop, that threw the whole bevy into a terrible panic; +making some of the smaller fry scream outright, and even Uncle +Juvinell to blink a little. "There," said the youngster, "is something +to ring in your ears for weeks hereafter, and never to be forgotten +even to your dying day. I heard it the other night at the Indian +circus, and have been practising it myself ever since. I fancy it must +be a pretty fair sample of the genuine thing, or it wouldn't have +scared you all up as it did." Whereupon Uncle Juvinell, frowning over +his spectacles with his brows, and laughing behind them with his eyes, +bade the young blood to pack himself into his chair again, and be +civil; at the same time threatening to put him on a water-gruel diet, +to bring his surplus spirits within reasonable bounds. Then all the +little folks laughed, not so much at what their uncle had said, as to +make believe they had not been frightened in the least; in which +Willie, the cunning rogue, joined, that, under cover of the general +merriment, he might snicker a little to himself at his own smartness. + +"And now, my dear children," continued the good man, "hand me the +notes you have written down, that I may see what it is you would have +me explain." + +"In five minutes' time after you began," said rattle-brained Willie, +"I became so much interested in the story, that I quite forgot all +about the notes, till it was too late to begin; but I was thinking all +along, that I should like to understand more clearly the difference +between a province and a colony, and"-- + +"Indeed, uncle," broke in Dannie, "you made every thing so clear and +plain as you went along, that I, for one, didn't feel the need of +writing down a single note." + +"Then, Dannie," said his uncle, "that being the case, you can perhaps +enlighten your cousin Willie as to the difference between a colony and +a province." + +Had his uncle called upon him to give the difference between Gog and +Magog, Daniel would have made the venture. So he promptly answered,-- + +"A province is a country, and a colony is the people of it." + +Uncle Juvinell would have laughed outright at this answer; but he knew +it would mortify the young historian: so he only smiled, and said,-- + +"That will do pretty well, Dannie, as far as it goes; but it does not +cover more than an acre of the ground. Now, a colony, you must know, +Willie, is a settlement made by a country--called, in such cases, the +mother-country--in some foreign region at a distance from it, but +belonging to it; as, for example, the English colonies in America, +which are separated from the mother-country, England, by the great +Atlantic Ocean. A province, on the other hand, is a similar extent of +foreign territory, belonging to a nation or a kingdom, either by +conquest or purchase or settlement; and it may also be a division or +district of the kingdom or nation itself. Thus, you see, a foreign +region, settled and owned by the mother-country, may, with nearly +equal propriety, be called either a colony or a province; while one +that belongs to a nation or a kingdom by conquest or purchase is a +province, and nothing else. Thus, for example, Canada is a province of +Great Britain, won from the French by conquest, as you will learn +to-morrow evening. From this you may see, that although a province +may, yet a colony can no more exist within the boundaries of a +mother-country, than can a man live at home and abroad at one and the +same time." + +The other children were then called on to produce their notes. Laura +said, that, after she had written two or three, she found she was +losing more than she was gaining; for, when she stopped to take down +any item she wished to remember, she did not hear what came right +after. Ellen chimed in with the same; and Ned said he was not yet out +of his pot-hooks, and couldn't write; but that he was thinking all the +time of getting Willie or Dannie to tell him all about it after they +went to bed. So, what with this excuse, and that, and the other, not a +single note was forthcoming, except a few that Master Charlie, the +knowing young gentleman, had written on a very large slate, in letters +quite of his own inventing, which he now laid before his uncle. To set +off his penmanship to the best advantage, and couple the ornamental +with the useful, he had drawn just above it a picture of Gen. +Braddock, mounted on his dashing white charger, and waving aloft a +sword of monstrous length. One unacquainted with the subject, however, +would sooner have taken it for a big baboon, geared up in a cocked hat +and high military boots, with a mowing-scythe in his hand, and +astraddle of a rearing donkey heavily coated with feathers instead of +hair. The old gentleman's spectacles seemed to twinkle as he ran his +eye over the slate; and after making out two or three rather +savage-looking _s_'s, as many long-legged _p_'s, a squat _h_ or two, a +big bottle-bellied _b_, three or four gigantic _l_'s, a broken-backed +_k_ or two, a high-shouldered _w_, a heavy-bottomed _d_, and a long +slim-tailed _y_, it struck him, at length, that speech-belt, Long +Knife, knapsack, Silver Heels, wigwam, and powder-monkey, were the +items concerning which Master Charlie desired further enlightenment. + +"For information touching these matters, my dear Charles," then said +Uncle Juvinell, "I will pass you over to Willie and Dannie, who, I +dare say, are quite as well posted up in matters of this kind, as your +old uncle; for, if I mistake not, they have just been reading Catlin's +book on the Indians, and Gulliver's Travels in Brobdignag." + +"How is it," inquired Ellen, "that Washington, being the good man that +he was, could have taken part in that wicked war between the French +and English about a country that didn't belong to either of them, but +to the poor Indians?" + +Now, although Uncle Juvinell was satisfied in his own mind that +Washington's conduct in this matter was just what it should have been, +yet, for all that, he was a little puzzled how to answer this question +in a way that the little folks would rightly understand. + +"This very thing, my dear niece," replied he after a moment's pause, +"grieved and troubled his mind a great deal, as you may well believe: +but he knew, that, if the English did not get possession of this land, +the French would; and this, by increasing the strength of the enemy, +would by and by endanger the safety of his own native land, and even +the lives and liberties of his countrymen. And he also knew that it +would be far better for the spread of useful knowledge and the true +religion, that all this rich country should be in the hands of some +Christian people, who would make it a place fit to live in, and to be +peaceful and prosperous and happy in, than that it should be left +entirely to those barbarous savages, who only made of it a place to +hunt and to fish in, to fight and scalp, and to burn and torture each +other like devils in. Besides this, it is the duty of every true +patriot (and no one knew this better than he) to serve and defend the +country, under the protection of whose laws he has lived in peace and +plenty, against all her enemies, whether at home or abroad, even +should she now and then be a little in the wrong; for, by so doing, he +defends his own home and family, rights and liberty,--objects that +should be as dear to him as life itself." + +"O uncle!" exclaimed Ned with a start, as if he had just caught a +passing recollection by the tail as it was about skedaddling round the +corner, "tell me, will you? what kind of a life a charmed life is." + +"Really Ned," cried Uncle Juvinell, "I am very glad that you mentioned +it; for it puts me in mind of something I should have told you before, +and which I might else have forgotten. This, however, is as good a +time as any; and, when you hear what I am now going to tell you, you +will readily understand, without further explanation, what is meant +when it is said of a man that he bears a charmed life about him. To do +this, I must anticipate a little, or, to speak more clearly, take time +by the forelock, and, going forward a little in our story, tell you of +a circumstance which your Uncle Juvinell, when a boy, often heard +related by Dr. Craik, who was then an aged and venerable man. + +"Fifteen years after poor Braddock had been laid in his unhonored +grave, Col. Washington, taking with him his friend Dr. Craik, went on +an exploring expedition to the Ohio, in behalf of the brave soldiers +who had served under him at the Great Meadows, and to whom, it must be +remembered, Gov. Dinwiddie had promised two hundred thousand acres of +the best land to be found on this great river or its branches. There +was peace then along the border, and little or no danger was to be +apprehended from the Indians. They travelled in a large canoe, rowed +by two or three hunters; and what with fishing in the streams (for +they took with them their fishing tackle), what with hunting in the +woods (for they took with them their hunting rifles), what with +camping on the green shore at night (for they took with them their +camp utensils), and what with the comfortable thought that there was +not an Indian warrior within a hundred miles whose fingers were +itching for their scalps (for they took with them this and many other +pleasant thoughts besides), they had, you may depend upon it, a +glorious time. + +"One day, there came to their camp, at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, +a party of Indians, headed by an old chief of grave and venerable +aspect, who approached Washington with deep reverence, as if entering +the presence of some superior being. After several pipes of tobacco +had been smoked, and several haunches of venison had been eaten,--the +first to show that they had come friendly, the last to show that they +came hungry,--the old chief addressed Washington in a speech, which +your Uncle Juvinell cannot repeat to you word for word as he heard it +from the lips of the worthy old doctor; but he well remembers the +substance thereof, and will give it you as nearly as he can in the +Indian style of oratory. + + "'They came and told me,' began the old chief, 'that the great + Long Knife was in our country; and I was very glad. I said to + them, though I be old and feeble, though the way be long, and + the hills many and high, and the rivers many and wide, yet must + I go and see him once more before I die; for it is the young + warrior, whom, years ago, I saw shielded from our bullets by + the hand of the Great Spirit. Let the pale-faces hear my words. + Fifteen summers ago, when the woods and thickets were dense and + green, the French and Indians went out to lay in ambuscade for + the big English general, among the Monongahela hills. I took my + warriors, and went along, and we lay in wait together. The + English were many and strong; we were few and weak: thus we had + no thought of victory in our minds, but only to give our + enemies a little trouble, and keep them back a while till the + big French army came down from the Great Lakes. We saw the + English army cross the river and come up the hill; yet they + suspected not. We saw them walk into our snare, up to the very + muzzles of our guns; nor did they dream of danger, till our + war-whoop went up, and our bullets began to fly as fast as + winter hail. I saw the red-coats fall, and strew the ground + like the red leaves of the woods nipped by an untimely frost, + and smitten by the unseen hands of a mighty wind. The snows of + eighty winters have fallen upon my head. I have been in many a + bloody battle; yet never saw I the red life-stream run as it + that day ran down Braddock's Hill from English hearts. Listen! + I saw that day, among the English, a young warrior who was not + an Englishman. I singled him out as a mark for my rifle; for he + was tall and strong, and rode grandly, and his presence there + was a danger to us. Seventeen times did I take slow and steady + aim, and fire; but my bullets went astray, and found him not. + Then I pointed him out to my young men, whose eyes were sharper + and whose hands were steadier than mine, and bade them bring + him down. It was all in vain: their bullets glanced from him as + if he had been a rock. I saw two horses fall under him, shot + dead; yet he rose unhurt. Then did I lay my hand on my mouth in + wonder, and bade my young men turn their rifles another way; + for the Great Spirit, I knew, held that young warrior in his + keeping, and that his anger would be kindled against us if we + desisted not. That young warrior, the favorite of Heaven, the + man who is destined never to fall in battle, now stands before + me. Once more mine eyes have seen him, and I shall now go away + content.' + +"And now, Ned, my boy," said Uncle Juvinell, after he had ended this +oration, "can you tell me what a charmed life is?" + +"One that is bullet-proof, I suppose," replied Ned. + +"You don't mean to say that Washington was bullet-proof, do you, Uncle +Juve?" put in doubting Charlie. + +"No, not exactly that, my little nephew," replied his Uncle Juvinell; +"and yet a great deal more: for, beyond all doubt, an all-wise +Providence raised up George Washington to do the good and great work +that he did, and to this end shielded him when encompassed by the +perils of battle, strengthened him when beset by the wiles of +temptation, and cheered him when visited by the trials of adversity. +Dr. Davis, a famous preacher of that day, seemed to have looked upon +him, as did the old Indian, as one favored of Heaven; for, in a sermon +preached by him a few weeks after Braddock's defeat, he spoke of Col. +Washington as 'that heroic youth, whom, he could not but hope, +Providence had preserved in so signal a manner for some important +service to his country.' And now, my little folks, the clock strikes +nine, and our Christmas logs burn low: so join your old uncle in an +evening hymn; then haste you to your happy beds to sleep and dream the +peaceful night away." + + + + +XVIII. + +WORK IN EARNEST. + + +Hardly had the last clod been thrown on poor Braddock's grave, when +his army was seized with a second and most unaccountable panic; for no +one could tell from whence or how it came. With those horrid yells +still sounding in their ears, and those ghastly sights of blood and +carnage still fresh in their memories, they fancied they heard, in +every passing gust that stirred the dead leaves, warning whispers of +the stealthy approach of the dreaded enemy, and that in every waving +thicket he might be lurking for them in ambush. + +Col. Dunbar, as next in rank, had, for the time being, taken command +of the troops; but, cowardly as the old general was rash, he shared in +the general panic, and could do nothing to re-assure his men or give +them a little confidence. So, without waiting to know by whose orders, +or if by any at all, they fell to, and destroyed all the heavy +baggage, baggage-wagons, and artillery; every thing, in fact, that +could hinder them in their retreat. Thus disencumbered, they set out +in hot haste; and after a hurried and disorderly march, or rather +flight, they reached Fort Cumberland. + +Here Col. Washington, who had taken no part whatever in the +unsoldierly proceedings just mentioned, stopped a few days to recruit +a little after the severe fatigues he had, for a week past, been +called upon to undergo, while still too much enfeebled from his +ten-days' fever. The first use he made of this breathing spell was to +write an affectionate letter to his much-honored mother to ease her +mind of the anxiety he knew she would be feeling on his account, when +rumors of the late disaster should reach her ears. He told her of his +almost miraculous deliverance from a cruel and bloody death, in +language full of gratitude to the God of battles, who had shielded him +in so signal a manner, when his brave comrades were falling by +hundreds around him. Writing to his brother Augustine at the same +time, he wittily says, "Since my arrival at this place, I have heard a +circumstantial account of my death and dying speech; and I take this +early opportunity of contradicting the former, and assuring you that I +have not yet composed the latter." + +When he had so far regained his strength as to enable him to travel, +he betook himself once more to the peaceful shades of Mount Vernon. He +re-entered at once upon his duties as Adjutant-General of the Northern +District,--a post he still continued to hold, although his connection +with the regular army had ceased with the death of Braddock. + +But we must return for a few moments to Fort Cumberland, where we left +the valorous Col. Dunbar quite out of breath from the uncommonly brisk +speed, which seems to have been his habit now and then, of getting +over very rough and hilly roads. Any soldier, with a spark of manly +spirit under his sword-belt, would have made a resolute stand at a +place of so much importance, and held it to the death, rather than +left the defenceless inhabitants exposed to the horrors of a border +war. Col. Dunbar was not, by any means, the true soldier just hinted +at; and consequently did no such thing. Seeing that the sick and +wounded were but so many clogs to rapid and easy motion, he resolved +to leave them behind under the care of the slender garrison he had +placed in the fort, who were expected to defend it against an enemy +that he, with a force of fifteen hundred strong, had not the courage +to face. Thus rid of his hinderances to the last degree of +lightsomeness, he pushed on by forced marches, as if a legion of +painted savages were yelling at his heels; and never slackened speed +until he found himself safe within the friendly walls of Philadelphia, +where he went into comfortable winter-quarters while yet the dog-days +were at their hottest. + +Thus basely deserted by these doughty regulars, who had been sent +over so many thousand miles of salt water for their protection, +the colonists saw with dismay the whole line of their vast frontier, +from Lake Ontario to the Carolinas, open to the inroads of the +French and their Indian allies. In the long-run, however (as you +shall see hereafter), two luckier mishaps than Braddock's defeat +and Dunbar's retreat, that seemed at the time so fraught with evil, +could not have befallen them. They were thereby taught two wholesome +lessons, which they might otherwise have been a long time in learning, +and without which they never could have gained their independence +and made themselves a nation. The first, by proving that British +regulars were not, by any means, the never-to-be-beaten, and the +never-to-be-made-to-skedaddle warriors that they boasted themselves to +be, and that one-half of the Americans were foolish enough to believe +them to be. Thus, when the War of Independence broke out, our +Revolutionary fathers remembered this, and were not afraid to meet the +English even on such unequal terms. The second, by opening their eyes +to the fact, that, as they (the colonists) could no longer look to the +mother-country for protection, they must henceforward rely upon their +own strength and resources for their defence and safety. + +The people of Virginia, seeing the forlorn condition of things, were +at last awakened to a full sense of the danger that threatened, not +only their back settlements, but even the heart of the Old Dominion +itself. They therefore began to bestir themselves in right good +earnest to put the province in a better posture of defence; and, to +this end, resolved to send more troops into the field, raise more +money, procure new arms and fresh supplies of military stores, and +erect a chain of twenty block-houses, or small forts, stretching along +the whole line of their frontier, from Pennsylvania to North +Carolina,--a distance of three hundred and sixty miles. Washington's +career as a soldier had not, up to this time, been marked by any of +those daring and brilliant exploits that charm and dazzle vulgar +minds; but had, on the contrary, been one unbroken train of +misfortunes and disasters. Notwithstanding this, however, the +confidence his countrymen had placed in his prudence, courage, +ability, and patriotism, so far from having been diminished thereby, +had gone on steadily gaining strength from the very beginning. They +well knew, that, had the headstrong and unlucky Braddock given heed to +his prudent and timely counsel, the late campaign could never have +ended in the disgraceful and disastrous manner that it had. As the +most flattering proof of their esteem and confidence, they now turned +to him in their hour of peril, and, although he was not yet +twenty-four years of age, called upon him, as with one voice, to take +the chief command of all the forces of the province. After some +deliberation, being persuaded that it was really their earnest desire, +he modestly accepted the appointment, on condition that certain +changes should be made in the military, and that he should be allowed +to choose his field-officers. This was readily agreed to by the +Virginia House of Burgesses; who, in addition, voted him fifteen +hundred dollars by way of compensating him for the many losses he had +suffered, in horses, baggage, and money since the beginning of the +war. + +Accordingly, early in the autumn, he took up his headquarters at the +frontier town of Winchester, beyond the Blue Ridge, in the beautiful +Valley of the Shenandoah. As four great highways met here from as many +different quarters of the country, it was a post of much importance; +and he resolved, by strongly fortifying it, to make it the +rallying-point of all the border. His men were all raw recruits, just +taken from the plough or forge or carpenter's bench, as the case might +be; and, to render them fit for the peculiar service in which they +were to be employed, it became his duty, besides training them in the +regular military exercises, to instruct them in the arts and +stratagems of Indian warfare, or bush-fighting, as it is more aptly +called. Long, however, before he was ready to take the field, the +French and Indians, made daring and audacious by their great victory +on the Monongahela, had crossed the mountains at several different +points in great numbers, and had already begun their bloody work. The +terrified and defenceless inhabitants dwelling in the distant parts of +the wilderness now came flocking to the Shenandoah Valley for +protection from the merciless enemy, some of them never stopping till +they had passed on over to the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge. + +One morning, a rumor found its way to Winchester, that a large party +of Indians were within twelve miles of that place, pillaging, burning, +and murdering at a frightful rate. Straightway a great fear fell upon +the inhabitants. Little children ran, and hid their faces in their +mothers' aprons, crying piteously; women ran hither and thither, +screaming, and wringing their hands; and broad-shouldered, +double-fisted men stood stock-still, and shook in their moccasins. +Washington tried to prevail upon some of his soldiers to sally out +with him, and drive the enemy back from the valley; but, being +strangers to military obedience, not a leather-shirt of all the rabble +could he get to venture beyond the ditches. When he put them in mind +of what was expected of them as men and soldiers, they only answered, +that, if they must die, they would rather stay there, and die with +their wives and families. Having a lurking suspicion, that, after all, +there might be more smoke than fire in these flying rumors, he sent +out a scout to bring him some more certain tidings of the matter. In a +wonderfully short time, the scout came back, pale and affrighted, with +the dismal intelligence that he had, with his own ears, heard the guns +and yells of the Indians not four miles distant, and that Winchester +would be beset by the savages in less than an hour. Whereupon +Washington made another appeal to the courage and manhood of his men; +which proved so far successful, that a forlorn hope of forty finally +screwed up pluck enough to follow him to the scene of danger. Moving +with great caution and circumspection, and keeping all their ears and +eyes about them, the party came at length to the spot mentioned by the +scout; where, sure enough, they heard a somewhat scattering discharge +of fire-arms, and divers outlandish noises, that bore, however, but a +very slight resemblance to the terrific yells and whoops of Indian +warriors. Advancing a few paces farther, a sudden turn of the road +brought them in sight of two drunken soldiers, who were cursing and +swearing and hallooing in a manner quite outrageous and immoral; and +now and then, by way of adding a little spice to this part of their +entertainment, firing off their pistols into the tree-tops. And this +it was that had given rise to those wild rumors that had thrown the +whole country into such a terrible panic. To this imprudent waste of +breath and ammunition, the latter of which they had but little enough +to spare, Washington put a rather sudden stop by ordering the lively +young blades to be seized, and carried as prisoners to Winchester, +where he kept them in severe confinement for more than a week after +they had regained their sober senses. All this was ludicrous enough; +and you may be sure that Washington, although grave and dignified +beyond his years, had a hearty laugh over it the first time he found +himself alone with one or two of his brother-officers. + +In addition to his other cares, the duties of his office required him +to visit, from time to time, the several forts along the frontier, to +see that those already finished were kept in fighting order, and give +directions for the proper construction of those still under way. Now, +the little garrison of forty men, that Col. Dunbar had left to hold +and defend Fort Cumberland against the combined armies of the French +and Indians, was commanded by a certain Dagworthy, who, pluming +himself upon the king's commission as captain, refused to own the +authority and render obedience to the orders of Washington, who held +only a governor's commission as colonel. It will be remembered, that +Washington had a similar misunderstanding with Capt. Mackay, eighteen +months before, at the Great Meadows, touching this same question of +rank between royal and provincial officers, which had caused him great +trouble and annoyance. Matters had now come to such a pass, that a +little upstart captain of forty men could set at naught the authority +of the commander-in-chief of the forces of a whole province, merely +because he could boast a bit of paper embellished with the king's +name. This was a degradation too grievous to be longer borne by a +manly, independent spirit. Though sorely vexed and annoyed, Washington +had too much self-respect and prudence to make a noise about the +matter; but he inwardly resolved, that, as soon as the coming-on of +winter would oblige the Indians to recross the mountains to the +shelter of their homes beyond, he would take advantage of the +breathing spell thus allowed him to make a journey to Boston, there to +submit the question for final settlement to Gen. Shirley, who had +succeeded Braddock to the chief command of all the British forces in +America. + +Accordingly, when the departure of the Indians brought the distressed +inhabitants of the border the prospect of a few months' peace and +quiet, he departed for Boston, in company with two of his +brother-officers, Capts. Stewart and Mercer. + +Now, in those days, a journey from the Old Dominion to the Bay City, a +distance of but five hundred miles, in the depth of winter, when the +roads were either deep and stiff with mire, or rough and knobby with +frost, was really a greater undertaking than a voyage in a steamship +from Boston to Constantinople would now be considered. Our young men +travelled on horseback, as was the fashion of the day; and took with +them their negro servants, who, riding behind with their masters' +saddle-bags and portmanteaus, and dressed in fine livery, with gold +lace on their fur hats, and blue cloaks, gave quite an air of style +and consequence to the little cavalcade. + +Washington's fame had long since gone before him, as was proved by the +marked distinction and respect with which he was treated at +Philadelphia, New York, and other places along the route. All were +eager to behold with their own eyes the youthful hero, whose gallant +conduct and wonderful escape at the defeat of Braddock had been so +noised throughout the Colonies; and when we add to this his tall and +commanding form, the manly beauty of his face, his dignified bearing, +his rich and handsome dress, and the unequalled skill with which he +managed his large and noble horse, we cannot wonder at the interest +and admiration his appearance awakened in the minds of all who saw +him. + +When he got to Boston, where he likewise met with a flattering +reception, he lost no time in making known to Gen. Shirley the +business that had taken him thither. The justness and reasonableness +of his complaints were promptly acknowledged by this officer, who, to +place the vexed question beyond dispute, declared, that henceforward +Capt. Dagworthy and all inferior officers, holding king's commissions, +should own the authority and render obedience to the orders of all +provincial officers of superior rank. This, the main object of his +journey, thus happily disposed of, Col. Washington set out on his +return to Virginia: but, knowing that the Indian war-whoop was not +likely soon to be heard in the Shenandoah Valley, he indulged himself +so far as to tarry two whole weeks at New-York City; and for the best +of reasons, as I will tell you. + +On his way to Boston, he had met here with the beautiful and +accomplished Miss Phillipps, with whom he was vastly pleased; and it +was for the nearer study of this young lady's charms, and further +cultivation of her acquaintance, that our young Virginia colonel was +now tempted for once in his life thus to linger on his way. Nothing +came of it, however, that anybody now can tell; although the lady, you +may stake your heads upon it, must and ought to have been highly +flattered at being thus singled out by the young hero whose name and +praise were in everybody's mouth. Perhaps his admiration never ripened +into love; and, if it did, his modesty, as in the case of the Lowland +Beauty, must have hindered him from making known his partiality. +Whatever it may have been, it is, at this late day, of little +consequence; for long before that year had passed away, with all its +anxious cares, its perils and privations, and with all its train of +ghastly Indian horrors, these tender sentiments had become to him +nothing more than pleasant memories. + + + + +XIX. + +DARK DAYS. + + +It were long to tell you, my dear children, all that happened to +Washington, and all that he did for the next two or three years of his +life. I shall, therefore, in as brief and clear a manner as may be, +present to your minds a picture simply of those scenes in which he +figured as the chief actor; although there were, it must be +remembered, others who played a far more important part in this old +French War than our young Virginia colonel. + +The French and Indians, early in the spring of these years, were wont +to cross the mountains at different points, and for months together +follow their usual programme of fire, plunder, and massacre, till the +approach of winter, when, loaded with booty and scalps, they would go +as they had come, only to return on the opening of the following +spring. With these cruel savages, and their scarcely less cruel white +allies, neither age nor sex found mercy; old men, tender women, and +helpless children, alike falling victims to their murderous tomahawks +and scalping-knives. Farms were laid waste, crops destroyed, cattle +butchered; and often, for days and nights together, the smoke could be +seen in many directions at once, as it rose from burning barns and +dwellings, and hung like a pall over the ill-fated land. At last, so +great became the audacity of these pestilent savages, that they +carried their depredations within cannon range of the very walls of +Winchester; and, under their destroying hand, the rich and beautiful +Valley of the Shenandoah seemed likely soon again to become a waste +and desert place. It was a boast of theirs, that they could take any +fort that could be fired; and round these places of refuge they would +skulk and lurk with the greatest patience for a week at a time, quite +content could they but get a single shot at such of the garrison as +dared to show themselves beyond shelter of the walls. Sometimes, +suddenly darting from their hiding-place, they would pounce upon +little children playing in the woods, and, in full view of the fort, +bear them away captives, never more to be seen by their bereaved +parents, who could only listen in helpless anguish to the piteous +cries of their little innocents, that grew fainter and fainter as +their savage captors hurried them farther and farther into the gloomy +depths of the wilderness. + +Often, in their excursions along the frontier, Washington and his men +would come upon the still smoking ruins of a happy home, or the hacked +and mangled body of an unfortunate traveller who had been waylaid and +murdered by the Indians in some lonely mountain glen. In after-life, +the recollection of these harrowing scenes was to Washington so +painful, that he could but seldom be brought to speak of them. Now and +then, however, he would relate to a few friends some of these dark +experiences; among which is the following, given in his own words, as +a fair example of all the rest:-- + + "One day," said he, "as we were traversing a part of the + frontier, we came upon a small log-house, standing in the + centre of a little clearing, surrounded by woods on all sides. + As we approached, we heard the report of a gun,--the usual + signal of coming horror. Our party crept cautiously through the + underwood, until we had approached near enough to see what we + had already foreboded. A smoke was slowly making its way + through the roof of the house; when, at the same time, a party + of Indians came forth, laden with plunder,--consisting of + clothes, household furniture, domestic utensils, and dripping + scalps. We fired, and killed all but one, who tried to get + away, but was soon overtaken and shot down. Upon entering the + hut, there met us a sight, which, though we were familiar with + scenes of blood and massacre, struck us--at least myself--with + feelings more mournful than I had ever experienced before. On a + bed, in one corner of the room, lay the body of a young woman, + swimming in blood, with a gash in the forehead that almost + separated the head into two parts. On her breast lay two little + babes, less than a twelvemonth old, also with their heads cut + open; their innocent blood, that had once flowed in one common + vein, now mingling in the same current again. I was inured to + scenes of bloodshed and misery; but this cut me to the heart; + and never in my after-life did I raise my arm against a savage, + without calling to mind the mother and her little twins with + their heads cleft asunder. On examining the tracks of the + Indians to see what other murders they might have committed, we + found a little boy, and, a few steps forward, his father, both + scalped, and both stone-dead. From the prints of the boy's + feet, it seemed that he had been following the plough with his + father, whom he had probably seen shot down; and, in attempting + to escape, had been pursued, overtaken, and murdered. The ruin + was complete: not one of the family had been spared. Such was + the character of this miserable warfare. The wretched people of + the frontier never went to rest without bidding each other + farewell; for the chances were they might never wake again, or + wake only to find their last sleep. When leaving one spot for + the purpose of giving protection to another point of exposure, + the scene was often such as I shall never forget. The women and + children would cling around our knees, and mothers would hold + up their little babes before our eyes, begging us to stay and + protect them, and, for God's sake, not leave them to be + butchered by the savages. A hundred times, I declare to Heaven, + I would have laid down my life with pleasure under the tomahawk + and scalping-knife, could I, by the sacrifice, have insured the + safety of these suffering people." + +The little folks can well imagine how scenes like these must have +pained and wrung a heart like Washington's. But what could he do? His +whole force did not exceed one thousand fighting men; with which he +had to man more than twenty forts, and guard a frontier of nearly four +hundred miles' extent. In addition to this, his men had been so +scattered all the while at these different points, as to have placed +it altogether beyond his power to give that attention to their +military training which he had had so near at heart when he first +entered upon his command. It naturally followed, then, that there was +among the greater number an almost total want of order and discipline. +They came and went when and where it suited their humor best; were +impatient of control; wasted their ammunition, of which there was a +great scarcity, in target-shooting; were far more ready to trouble +their officers with good advice than aid them by prompt obedience to +orders; and, if their sagacious counsels went unheeded, they would, +without more ado, shoulder their rifles in high dudgeon, and tramp +home. And, withal, so tender were they of what they were pleased to +call their _honor_, that they would take it as quite an insult to be +put on soldiers' rations; and were too proud or lazy--which with them +was the same thing--to carry their own provisions while on the march; +choosing, rather, to risk what chance might bring them, in the shape +of bullocks, sheep, or pigs, which they would knock down, without a +"By your leave" to the owner, and, after eating as much as satisfied +their present hunger, would throw the rest away. Thus, between their +wasteful defenders and their wasting invaders, the poor distressed +inhabitants were brought to the verge of starvation. + +The forts were too far apart to prevent the Indians from passing +between; and the garrisons were too weak to lend each other aid when +any of them chanced to be in hard, besetting need. This plan of giving +defence to the border had been strongly opposed by Washington, who +foresaw the disadvantages just hinted at, and had urged the exact +contrary. This was, instead of having so many small forts, with but a +handful of men in each, to fortify Winchester in the completest manner +possible, with a view of making it the only stronghold and +rallying-point of all the border, and to be manned by the main body of +the troops, who were to give support to the smaller parties in their +excursions against the enemy. Long before the war was ended, it was +clearly to be seen, that, had this plan been adopted, much useless +expenditure of money and shedding of blood would have been avoided. As +it was, the cunning and watchful foe, whose motions were swift as the +birds, and secret as death, could pass between these forts, not only +unopposed, but even unobserved, and, without let or hinderance, lay +waste the country for the protection of which they had been built. +Under this most melancholy state of things, all the region west of the +Blue Ridge was fast becoming the dreary and silent wilderness it had +been in days gone by. Scarcely a shadow of its former population was +left: some had fled to the forts for refuge; some had resettled in the +eastern parts of the province; some had been carried away into cruel +captivity; and many, very many, had met with a horrible death at the +hands of the merciless invaders. + +As if all this we have just related were not enough to try the +patience and fortitude of young Washington, evil reports, injurious to +his character, and charging him with being the author of all these +failures and calamities, were set agoing by secret enemies at home. +Foremost among these, you will be surprised and sorry to learn, was +Gov. Dinwiddie, who had for some time past regarded with a jealous and +envious eye this rising hope of the land, and was now seeking, by a +variety of underhand means, to have him disgraced from the service, +that Col. Innez, a particular chum of his, might be advanced to the +chief command of the Virginia troops instead. The lower offices of the +army he was zealous to bestow upon a knot of needy adventurers, who, +being Scotchmen like himself, were in high favor with him, and +scrupled not to make his likes and dislikes their own, if, by so +doing, they could further their own private advantage. Perhaps Gov. +Dinwiddie himself may not have been the direct author of these +reports; but it is quite certain that his hungry hangers-on would +never have dared whisper them had they not been fully aware of the +ill-will he bore the person by whose injury they hoped to profit, and +that they had but to do the thing, when their patron would not only +wink at it, but even give it his secret approval. + +When these malicious whisperings came to the ears of Washington, he +was stung to the quick by such unfair and unmerited treatment. Feeling +assured in his own conscience that he had done his whole duty as far +as in him lay, all his strong and manly nature was roused to indignant +anger, that his fair name should thus become the target of these +arrows flying in the dark, without an opportunity being allowed him of +a fair and open hearing in his own defence. He would have left the +service at once,--the very end his enemies had been plotting so hard +to bring about,--had not the frontier settlements, just at that +moment, been threatened with more than usual peril; and to have +deserted his post at such a time would have given his accusers real +grounds for the charges, which heretofore had been but a mere +pretence. Before the immediate danger was past that kept him at his +post, many of his warmest and most influential friends, residing in +different parts of the province, had written to him, earnestly +entreating him not to think of resigning his command; assuring him, at +the same time, that the base slanders of those evil-minded men had +found no place whatever in the minds of his fellow-countrymen. On the +contrary, beholding the courage, patience, and humanity with which he +was discharging the high and sacred duties they had intrusted to him, +they felt their love for him, and confidence in him, increasing every +day. With this gratifying assurance that his conduct and motives were +rightly understood by those whose approbation he was most desirous of +winning, Washington now held on his course with renewed hope and +spirit. + +Thenceforward, Gov. Dinwiddie, as if to revenge himself for this +failure of his base and selfish design, never let an opportunity slip +of thwarting or annoying the man whose high public character his petty +malice could not reach, and whose private worth his mean envy could +not tarnish. His letters to Washington, the tone of which heretofore +had been uncivil enough, now became harsh and insolent, full of +fault-finding, and bristling all over with biting reproofs and unmanly +insinuations. Although wretchedly ignorant of military matters, and at +a distance from the seat of active operations, yet he must needs take +upon himself the full control of all the troops of the province, +without seeming to trouble his mind as to what might be the wishes and +opinions of him who was in fact their true leader. Whether from a +spiteful desire to perplex the object of his dislike, or natural +fickleness of character, every letter from him brought with it some +new plan. To-day, he ordered this; to-morrow, he ordered that; and, +the next day, upset the other two by something quite different from +either: so that Washington was often left completely in the dark as +to what the uncertain meddler's wishes or plans really were. + +At last, from being thus harassed in mind by these petty annoyances, +and worn in body by the hardships of such rough service, his health +failed him; and he was advised to repair to Mount Vernon, and there +remain until his disease should take a more favorable turn. Here he +lay for four long, weary months, before he could rejoin big regiment; +during much of which time, his friends, who nursed and watched him, +really regarded his recovery as doubtful. This is another instance of +what so often seems to us a matter of wonder,--the power of a +narrow-minded, mean-spirited, ill-tempered, false-hearted man to +inflict pain on a noble and lofty nature. + +A short time before the close of the war, it becoming quite certain +that he had been putting public money, intrusted to his keeping, to +private or dishonorable uses, Gov. Dinwiddie was recalled, and another +sent over to fill his place. Being the man here described, and a petty +tyrant withal, nobody was sorry to see him go, except the needy +toadies who had hung about him, and who, seeing that nothing was +likely to turn up for them in the New World, packed off to Scotland +with their patron, as hungry and empty-handed as they came. + +By the by, I must not forget to tell you of the heroic conduct of old +Lord Fairfax. Greenway Court, as you no doubt remember, was in the +Shenandoah Valley, not many miles from Winchester; and, situated on +the very edge of a vast forest, was quite open to the inroads of the +Indians, any one of whom, would have risked limb or life to get his +bloody clutches on the gray scalp of so renowned a Long Knife. To meet +this danger, as well as do his part towards the general defence, he +mustered his hunters and negro servants, to the number of a hundred or +thereabouts, and formed them at his own expense into a company of +horse, with which the keen old fox-hunter, now as daring a trooper, +scoured the country from time to time, and did good service. + + + + +XX. + +A NEW ENTERPRISE. + + +And thus these melancholy years came and went, with all their dark and +painful experiences. A firm and self-reliant spirit like Washington's, +however, could not be long cast down by even severer trials than those +by which we have just seen his strength and manhood tested: so, from +that time forward, come what might, he resolved to hold right on, nor +bate a jot of heart or hope or zeal or patience, till the coming-on of +better days, when, God willing, he might render a good and faithful +account of this, his country's trust. + +But the little folks must not suppose that Col. Washington and Gov. +Dinwiddie were by any means the only persons of consequence who +figured in this Old French War. On the contrary, there were others of +far more importance at the time than they, not so much from any +peculiar merit of their own, as from the part they played in those +events; and upon whom, as such, I must needs bestow some passing +notice, were it but to give to our story greater clearness and +completeness. What concerns you to know of them at present I will +briefly sum up in a few words, and make it as plain to you as a table +of simple addition. + +As Commander-in-chief of all the British forces in America, Braddock, +as I have told you elsewhere, was succeeded by Gen. Shirley; who, +proving himself unfit for the place, was soon recalled, and Lord +Loudoun sent over from England instead; who, proving himself equally +unfit, was dealt with in the same manner, and Gen. Abercrombie sent +over instead; who also, proving himself incompetent, was also +recalled, and Gen. Amherst sent over; who, proving a wiser choice, +there followed happier results; and it fell to him, and to the brave +young general, Wolfe, his next in rank, to bring this long and irksome +war, in due course of time, to a glorious end. After the failure of +Braddock's designs against Fort Duquesne, the conquest of Canada was +made the chief object of the British Government; and the regions of +the North thenceforth became the seat of war. While our young Virginia +colonel, making the best use of the slender means allowed him, was +struggling to keep back the pestilent savages and their pestilent +white allies from his long line of frontier in the South and West, +some of these leaders with their red allies, and some of the French +leaders with their red allies, were, with various fortunes and +misfortunes on either side, carrying on the war along the borders of +the great Lake Ontario, the little Lakes Champlain and George, and up +and down the mighty St. Lawrence. + +Of these English leaders, I will mention Lord Loudoun merely, as being +the only one with whom Washington had any special dealings. Had this +nobleman come up to the hopes and expectations which many of the +colonists were at first wild enough to entertain respecting him, he +would have regained what Braddock had lost, overrun and conquered +Canada, and made a clean finish of the whole French empire in America, +in less than six months' time. They soon discovered, however, that he +was one of those unlucky persons, who, knowing much, seldom know what +use to make of their knowledge; who, having no will that they can call +their own, can never turn the will of others to any good or seasonable +purpose; and who, making a great show of doing, have never any thing +to show in the end what they have done. In this last particular, Dr. +Franklin, with that peculiar humor all his own, likened him to the +picture of St. George on the sign, that was always on horseback, but +never riding on. + +Now, the recapture of Fort Duquesne, ever since the disgraceful +failure of that first attempt, had been the one object nearest to +Washington's heart. Foreseeing that there could never be peace or +safety for the back settlements of the middle provinces so long as +this stronghold of the enemy sent out its savage swarms to scourge +and waste the border, he had repeatedly called Lord Loudoun's +attention to the fact, and most earnestly urged its seizure as the +only remedy. It was not, however, until early in the autumn of 1758, +that an expedition, having for its object his long-cherished scheme, +was set on foot. It was undertaken with a force of three thousand +Pennsylvanians, twelve hundred North Carolinians, Washington's +detachment of nineteen hundred Virginians, seven hundred Indians, and +a few hundred regulars,--numbering in all seven thousand men, or +thereabouts,--with Gen. Forbes for their chief commander. + +As an easy and rapid communication between the back settlements of +Virginia and Pennsylvania would greatly lessen the difficulties of the +coming campaign, this officer caused a road to be opened between Fort +Cumberland and Raystown, a frontier post of the last-named province, +where he had fixed his headquarters. Before the expedition could be +put in motion, it was necessary that Col. Washington should go to +Williamsburg to make known to the Virginia Legislature the needy +condition of his soldiers, and make a call upon them for fresh +supplies of tents, blankets, clothing, wagons, arms, &c. + +Accordingly, attended by his trusty negro servant Bishop, and mounted +on his splendid white charger,--both of which had been bequeathed to +him by poor Braddock,--he set out on his journey, which proved an +eventful one indeed to him, as you shall directly see. At the ferry of +the Pamunkey, a branch of York River, he fell in with Mr. Chamberlin, +an acquaintance of his, who, according to the hospitable customs of +those good old times, invited him to call at his house, not far +distant, and be his honored guest till morning. The young colonel +would be only too happy to do so: but the nature of his business was +such as would not admit of an hour's delay; indeed, it was quite out +of the question, and he must hasten on. But, his friend repeating the +invitation in a manner too earnest to be mistaken, he felt it would be +uncourteous to refuse; and consented to stop and dine with him; on +condition, however, that he should be allowed to proceed on his +journey that same evening. At his friend's hospitable mansion he met +with a gay and brilliant throng of ladies and gentlemen, who, though +strangers to him, knew him well by reputation, and were but too proud +to be thus unexpectedly thrown in his company. Among them was Mrs. +Martha Custis, a young and beautiful widow of good family and large +fortune. Her husband had died three years before; leaving her with two +small children, a girl and a boy. She is said to have been a lady of +most winning and engaging manners, and of an excellent and cultivated +understanding. In stature she was a little below middle size, and of a +round and extremely well-proportioned form; which, on this occasion, +was set off to the best advantage by a dress of rich blue silk. Her +hair was dark; her features were pleasing and regular; and there was a +look of earnest, womanly softness in her hazel eyes, that found its +way at once to the heart and confidence of all on whom it chanced to +rest. + +The little folks will not, I hope, suffer their admiration and respect +for our young hero to be lessened in the least, if I tell them, that, +like the rest of mankind who came within the magic circle of those +bewitching charms, he was first surprised into admiration, and then +led, whether or no, at a single step, into the enchanted realms of +love. You have seen, how that, in his boyhood, he wrote broken-hearted +verses to his Lowland Beauty; and how that, two or three years before, +he had nearly yielded himself captive to the beautiful Miss Phillipps: +which ought to prove to the satisfaction of all reasonable minds, that +Washington, like other men, had a heart of real human flesh, that now +and then gave him not a little trouble, despite that grave and +dignified reserve which hung about him like a spell, and, even at that +early age, was something to many quite overawing. The dinner, that had +at first, in his hurry, seemed so long in coming on, seemed now quite +as fast in going off. Not that I would have you suppose by this, that +he thought the guests were showing any indecent haste to make way with +the dishes that were set before them without number, and heaped up +without measure, on Mr. Chamberlin's ample board. On the contrary, +they partook of the good things of the table with a well-bred +slowness, that would have been beyond his endurance to bear, had Mars +been thundering with his iron fist at the gates of his fortress. But +as it was Cupid, only tapping with his rosy knuckles at the casement +of his heart, that dinner seemed no longer to him than, no, not half +so long indeed as, the shortest snack he had ever eaten on horseback +in the hurry of a forced march. The dinner over, Washington seemed in +no haste to depart. + +The trusty Bishop, knowing well what a punctual man his master always +was, had appeared, according to orders, with the horses; and was +plainly enough to be seen from the parlor window, had any one cared to +look that way, patiently waiting with them in the pleasant shade of an +apple-tree. The fiery white charger soon began to paw the ground, +impatient at his master's unwonted tardiness; but no rider came. +Bishop Braddock shifted his place once, twice, thrice, to keep himself +and horses in the shade of the apple-tree; but still his master +lingered: and the ivory grin that settled by degrees on his ebony mug +showed that he had a sly suspicion of what was going on in the house. +The afternoon sped away as if old Time, all of a sudden forgetting his +rheumatism, had reached sunset at a single stride. Of course, they +would not suffer him to depart at this late hour: so Bishop was +ordered to restable the horses, and make himself easy and snug for the +night with the colored folks down at their quarters. The next morning, +the sun was hours on his journey to the west, before our love-smitten +hero was on his way to Williamsburg. + +Once in the saddle, however, all his yesterday's impatience returned +upon him with redoubled force; and, giving his fiery white charger the +spur, he dashed away at a break-neck speed on the road to the Virginia +capital. It is said, so fast did he travel on that day, that, to keep +up with him, Bishop Braddock ran serious risk of having his woolly nob +shaken from his shoulders by the high, hard trotter he rode; and so +sore was he made by the jolting he got, that, for a week thereafter, +it was quite as much as he could do to bring his legs together. This +last, by the way, is merely traditional, and must be received by the +little folks with some caution. + +Luckily, the White House, the residence of Mrs. Custis, was situated +within a very few miles of Williamsburg; which gave young Washington +many opportunities, during his two-weeks' stay at that place, of +seeing her, and still further cultivating her acquaintance. +Experience, that sage teacher who never spoke to him in vain, had +taught him, that although there are many blessings of this world which +seem to come of their own accord, yet there are a few that never come +except at the asking for; and the chiefest of these is woman's love. +So, resolving to profit by this knowledge, he did precisely what any +wise and reasonable man would have done in his place,--overcame his +troublesome bashfulness, and made the lady an offer of marriage; which +she, precisely as any wise and reasonable woman would have done in her +place, modestly accepted. The business that had called him to +Williamsburg being at last disposed of, Washington took leave of his +intended, after it had been agreed between them to keep up an +interchange of letters until the close of the present campaign, when +they were to be united in the holy bonds of wedlock. + +Upon his return to Winchester, he was dismayed to find that the +English generals had taken it into their inexperienced heads to cut a +new road from Raystown to Fort Duquesne by the way of Laurel Hill, +instead of marching there at once by the old Braddock Road, as he +naturally supposed had been their intention from the beginning. +Foreseeing the consequences, he, in an earnest and forcible manner, +hastened to represent to them the difficulties and disadvantages of +such an undertaking. Cold weather would be setting in, he urged, long +before they could cut their way through so many miles of that mountain +wilderness to the point in question; and they would be obliged either +to winter at Laurel Hill, or fall back upon the settlements until +spring. This would give the enemy time to get full intelligence of +their threatened danger, and send to Canada for re-enforcements. Their +Indian allies too, as was their wont, would grow impatient at the long +delay that must needs attend this plan if carried out; and, returning +to their homes in disgust, would fail to render to the expedition +their valuable services as scouts and spies, as had been expected of +them. On the other hand, by taking the old road, they could march +directly to the fort; which, being at that time but feebly garrisoned, +must fall almost without a blow, and this, too, in less than half the +time, and with less than half the trouble and expense. This prudent +counsel, coming from one, who, from his knowledge of the country, had +so good a right to give it, was nevertheless overruled. The English +generals had gathered a most appalling idea of the difficulties and +dangers of this route from the account Braddock had given of it in his +letters. He had therein described it as lying through a region where +the mountains were of the highest and steepest, the forests of the +thickest and tallest, the rocks of the most huge and rugged, the +swamps of the deepest, and the torrents of the swiftest. The route for +the new road, on the contrary, according to the Pennsylvanians, who +saw in it a great advantage to themselves, lay through a region where +the mountains were not by far so lofty, the woods so thick, the rocks +so huge, the swamps so deep, nor the streams so swift, or half so +given to running rampant over their banks. All these advantages this +route had, besides being fifty miles shorter. So, under the mistaken +notion that more was to be gained by following a short road that would +take them a long time in getting over, than by following a long one +that would take them but a short time in getting over, they resolved +to cut the new road. + +This was a sore disappointment to Col. Washington; for he saw in it a +likelihood of Braddock's folly being played all over again, and that, +too, on a still larger scale. The tidings of glorious victories won by +British arms in the North had filled the whole country with triumph +and rejoicing, that rendered him all the more impatient at the +tardiness with which their own expedition was moving forward. "He +wished to rival the successes of the North by some brilliant blow in +the South. Perhaps a desire for personal distinction in the eyes of +the lady of his choice may have been at the bottom of his impatience." +This last, it is but fair to say, is an assertion of our great +countryman, Washington Irving; who, being a wise and learned +historian, would not have made it, you may be sure, had not his deep +insight into the workings of the human heart given him a perfect right +so to do. If this be not enough to convince you that such was really +the case, know that your Uncle Juvinell is entirely of the same +opinion. + + + + +XXI. + +MORE BLUNDERING. + + +At last, about the middle of September, the expedition was set in +motion. Gen. Forbes sent Col. Boquet in advance, with nearly two +thousand men, to open and level the road. In order to get more certain +information touching the condition of the enemy,--his number, +strength, and probable designs,--it was thought advisable by some of +the officers to send out a large party of observation in the direction +of Fort Duquesne. It was to be made up of British regulars, Scotch +Highlanders, and Pennsylvania and Virginia rangers,--eight hundred +picked men in all. Washington strongly disapproved the plan, on the +ground that the regulars, being wholly unacquainted with the Indian +mode of fighting, and unable to operate at so great a distance without +taking with them a cumbrous train of baggage, would prove a +hinderance, instead of a furtherance, to an enterprise which must +needs owe its success to the caution, silence, secrecy, and swiftness +on the part of those engaged. He therefore advised the sending-out of +small companies of rangers and Indian hunters, who, knowing the +country well, could spy out the enemy with less risk of detection to +themselves, and, moving without baggage, could make far better speed +with the tidings they may have gathered. The like advice, you may +remember, he gave to Braddock. It met with a like reception, and the +like disaster was the consequence. + +The party set out from Laurel Hill, and began its tedious tramp across +the fifty miles of wilderness that lay between that point and Fort +Duquesne. It was headed by Major Grant, a noisy, blustering braggart, +who, hankering after notoriety rather than seeking praise for duty +well and faithfully done, went beyond the limits of his instructions; +which were simply to find out all he could about the enemy, without +suffering the enemy to find out more than he could help about himself, +and, by all possible means, to avoid a battle. But, instead of +conducting the expedition with silence and circumspection, he marched +along in so open and boisterous a manner, as made it appear he meant +to give the enemy timely notice of his coming, and bully him into an +attack even while yet on the way. The French, keeping themselves well +informed, by their spies, of his every movement, suffered him to +approach almost to their very gates without molestation. When he got +in the neighborhood of the fort, he posted himself on a hill +overlooking it, and began throwing up intrenchments in full view of +the garrison. As if all this were not imprudence enough, and as if +bent on provoking the enemy to come out and give him battle on the +instant, whether or no, he sent down a party of observation to spy out +yet more narrowly the inside plan and defences of the fort; who were +suffered not only to do this, but even to burn a house just outside +the walls, and then return to their intrenchments, without a hostile +sign betokening the unseen foe so silent yet watchful within. + +Early the next morning, as if to give the enemy warning of the +threatened danger, the drums of the regulars beat the _reveille_, and +the bagpipes of the Highlanders woke the forest-echoes far and wide +with their wild and shrilly din. All this time, not a gun had been +fired from the fort. The deathly silence that reigned within was +mistaken for fear, and made the fool-hardy Grant so audacious as to +fancy that he had but to raise his finger, and the fort must fall. As +Braddock's day had begun with martial parade and music, so likewise +did this. As on that day the regulars were sent in advance, while the +Virginians were left in the rear to guard the baggage, so was likewise +done on this. On this day, as on that, not an enemy was to be seen, +till, all of a sudden, a quick and heavy firing was opened upon them +by Indians lurking in ambush on either side; while, at the same +moment, the French flung open their gates, and, rushing out, mingled +their loud shouts with the horrid yells of their savage allies. On +this day, as had been done on that, the regulars, surprised, +bewildered, panic-stricken, were thrown at once into disorder, and +began firing their pieces at random, killing friend as well as foe. +Unlike them, however, the Highlanders stood their ground like men, +and, fighting bravely, cheered each other with their slogan, or wild +battle-cry. On this day, as on that, the Virginians came up in the +very nick of time to rescue the helpless regulars from utter +destruction. On this, as on Braddock's day, the Indians, seeing the +hopeless confusion into which the English had fallen, rushed out from +their ambush with yells of triumph, and fell upon them, tomahawk and +scalping-knife in hand. Major Lewis, the brave leader of the +Virginians, fought hand to hand with a tall warrior, whom he laid dead +at his feet; but, soon overpowered by numbers, he was forced to +surrender himself to a French officer, who received his sword. The +blustering Grant, more lucky than the headstrong Braddock, saved his +life by yielding himself up in like manner. + +And now the rout became general, and the slaughter dreadful. Seeing +the unlooked-for turn affairs had taken, Capt. Bullitt, whom Major +Lewis had left to guard the baggage, gathered a few of his brave +Virginians about him, and prepared to make a desperate stand. Sending +back the strongest horses with the baggage, he blocked up the road +with the wagons, and, behind the barricade thus formed, posted his +men, to whom he gave a few brief orders how to act. These scanty +preparations were hardly made, when the Indians, having finished the +work of plunder, had sprung into swift pursuit, and were now close +upon them, the wild woods ringing with their terrible whoops and +yells. When they had come within short rifle-range, Capt. Bullitt and +his men met them with a well-aimed volley of musketry from behind the +shelter of their wagons; which, however, checked the savages but for a +moment. Rallying on the instant, they were pressing forward in still +greater numbers; when Capt. Bullitt held out a signal of surrender, +and came out from behind the barricade at the head of his men, as if +to lay down their arms: but no sooner were they within eight yards of +the enemy, and near enough to see the fierce light that shone in their +eyes, than they suddenly levelled their pieces, and poured a murderous +fire into the thickest of them; then, charging bayonets, scattered +them in every direction, and sent them yelling with astonishment and +dismay. Before they could rally again, and renew the pursuit, Capt. +Bullitt, having picked up many more of the fugitives, began a rapid +but orderly retreat. + +For several days thereafter, the fugitives, singly or in squads, came +straggling into camp at Loyal Hannon. Of the eight hundred picked men +who had been sent out with such good promise of success, twenty +officers and two hundred and seventy-three privates had been left +behind, either killed or taken prisoners. The whole force of the +enemy, French and Indians, did not exceed that of the English: their +loss in the battle is not known; but, as the Highlanders fought well +and the Virginians fought well, it must have been heavy. The disaster +foreboded by Washington had thus in reality fallen upon them. He was +at Raystown when the dismal tidings came; and, although complimented +by Gen. Forbes upon the bravery his rangers had displayed, was deeply +grieved and mortified. In secret, many a man would have been gratified +at beholding a prophecy he had uttered thus fulfilled; but Washington, +incapable of such selfish and unnatural vanity, could but sorrow +thereat, although it must needs increase his reputation for foresight +and sagacity. As the only good thing that came from this defeat, I +must tell you (and you will be glad to hear it) that Capt. Bullitt was +rewarded with a major's commission for the gallant and soldierly +conduct he had shown on that disastrous day in the midst of such +fearful perils. + +It was not until the middle of November that the whole army came up to +Loyal Hannon, a little distance beyond Laurel Hill. Winter was coming +on apace. What with rain and snow and frost, the roads would soon be +rendered impassable, not only to wheeled carriages, but to pack-horses +also. Fifty miles of unbroken wilderness lay between them and Fort +Duquesne,--so long the goal of their hopes and toils, that seemed to +recede as they advanced, like some enchanted castle we have read of +before now in books of fairy tales, that poor benighted travellers +never reach, although, in fancy, every step they take brings them +nearer. The leaders began to talk seriously of going into +winter-quarters at that place until the return of spring; and it +seemed as if another of Washington's prophecies were likely to be +fulfilled. But, about this time, two prisoners from Fort Duquesne were +brought into camp; from whom they drew such an account of the weakness +of the French, and the discontent and daily desertions of their Indian +allies, as determined them to push forward without further delay, in +spite of the wintry weather, and, at one fell blow, make a finish of +the campaign. So, leaving behind them their tents and baggage, and +taking with them but a few pieces of light artillery, they once more +resumed their toilsome march. Col. Washington was ordered to go on in +advance with a part of his detachment, to throw out scouts and +scouting parties, who were to scour the woods in every direction, and +thereby prevent the possibility of an ambuscade. This new arrangement, +which showed that Gen. Forbes had the wisdom to profit by the folly of +those who had gone before him, was a signal proof of the high esteem +in which provincial troops were at last beginning to be held; and to +which, by their courage, skill, and hardihood, they had, even years +before, won so just a title. + +When within a few miles of the French fort, the road began to show +signs of the late disaster. Here and there were to be seen the +blackened and mangled bodies of men, who, while fleeing for their +lives, had been overtaken, and cut down by the murderous tomahawk; or, +exhausted from the loss of blood, had there, by the lonely wayside, +laid them down to die of their wounds. As they advanced, these ghastly +tokens of defeat and massacre were to be met with at shorter and +shorter intervals, till at length they lay thickly scattered about the +ground. + +Being now in close neighborhood with the enemy, the English moved with +even greater caution and wariness than before; for they had every +reason to suspect, that, as he had suffered them to come thus far +without molestation, he meant to meet them here, under shelter of his +stronghold, with a resistance all the move determined. When come in +sight, however, what was their surprise, instead of beholding the high +ramparts and strong walls, grim and frowning with cannon, which they +had pictured to their minds, to find a heap of blackened and smoking +ruins! + +Deserted by his Indian allies, threatened with famine, cut off from +all hope of aid from the North (where the English were everywhere +gaining ground), and with a force of but five hundred men wherewith to +defend the post against ten times that number, the French general had +seen that the attempt to hold it would be but folly; and, like a +prudent officer, had resolved to abandon it as his only chance of +safety. Waiting, therefore, until the English were within a day's +march of the place, he blew up the magazine, set fire to the works, +and, embarking in his bateaux by the light of the flames, retreated +down the Ohio. + +Col. Washington, still leading the advance, was the first to enter; +and, with his own hand planting the British banner on the still +smouldering heaps, took formal possession thereof in the name of his +Britannic majesty, King George the Second. And thus this stronghold of +French power in the Ohio Valley, so long the pest and terror of the +border, fell without a blow. Under the name of Fort Pitt, it was soon +rebuilt, and garrisoned with two hundred of Washington's men; and, +from that time to the war of the Revolution, it was held by the +English, chiefly as a trading-post; and hence the dingy, smoky, noisy, +thriving, fast young city of Pittsburg. + +They now had leisure to pay the last sad duty to the dead who had +fallen in the two defeats of Braddock and Grant. For three long years, +the bodies of Braddock's slaughtered men had lain without Christian +burial, bleaching in the sun of as many summers, and shrouded in the +snows of as many winters. Mingled with the bones of oxen and horses, +or half hidden in heaps of autumn leaves, they lay scattered about the +stony hillsides,--a spectacle ghastly indeed, and most melancholy to +behold. With many a sigh of pity for the hapless dead, and many a +shudder of dark remembrance on the part of those who had been present +at the scenes of rout and massacre, they gathered together the +blackened corpses of Grant's men and the whitened bones of Braddock's +men, and, digging a huge pit, buried them in one common grave. In this +pious duty all took part alike, from the general down to the common +soldier. + +With the fall of Fort Duquesne, ended, as Washington had years ago +foreseen, the troubles of the Western and Southern frontiers, and with +it the power so long held by the French in the Ohio Valley. The +Indians, with that fickleness of mind peculiar to savage races, now +hastened to offer terms of amity and peace to the party whom the +fortunes of war had left uppermost. + +Having done his part, and so large a part, towards the restoration of +quiet and security to his native province, the cherished object of his +heart, for which he had so faithfully and manfully struggled, +Washington resolved to bring his career as a soldier to a close. In +his very soul, he was sick and weary of strife, and longed for peace. +The scenes of violence and bloodshed had become loathing and painful +to him beyond the power of words to tell; and, now that his country +had no longer need of his services, he felt that he could, without +reproach, retire to the tranquil shades of private life he loved so +much, and had looked forward to with such earnest longings. He +therefore, at the end of the year, gave up his commission, and left +the service, followed by the admiration and affection of his soldiers, +and the applause and gratitude of his fellow-countrymen. + +With the fall of Quebec in the course of the following year (1759), +this long and eventful Old French War was brought to a close, and +French empire in America was at an end. + + + + +XXII. + +WASHINGTON AT HOME. + + +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. + + + + +XXIII. + +A FAMILY QUARREL. + + +"And now, Dannie, mend the fire with another Christmas log. You, +Willie, open the windows at top and bottom, to let out the smoke the +young historian will be sure to raise. Laura, my dear, trim the lamp; +and you, Ella,--will you have the kindness to put a little sugar in +your uncle's cider?--there's a darling! Ned, my boy, just tumble +sleepy-headed Charlie there out of his comfortable nap, and touse him +into his waking senses again. All right? Now I would have every one of +you put your thinking-caps square and tight upon your heads, and keep +all your ears about you; for, depend upon it, what I am now going to +tell you is so full of hard points and tough knots, that, should you +but lose the crossing of a 't,' or even the dotting of an 'i,' +thereof, all the rest will be to you as so much hifalutin +transcendentalism." (Here Uncle Juvinell took a gigantic swallow of +cider, and pronounced the sugar a decided improvement; while the +little folks wrote something on their slates, very long, and which no +two of them spelt alike. Uncle Juvinell smacked his lips, and then +resumed.) + +Now, you must know, my dear children, that Great Britain, at the time +of which we are speaking, was, and for many years had been, and, in +fact, still is, and, in all human likelihood, will ever continue to +be, burdened with a mountain-load of debt, which has already given her +a frightful stoop in the shoulders, and may, in time, grow to such an +enormous bulk as to break her sturdy old back outright. She had, as +you have seen, added all French America to her dominions; but with +this increase of power and glory, that made her king and nobles smile +and sing with joy, came also an increase of debt and trouble, that +made her common people scowl and growl with want and discontent. The +expenses of the late war with France had added the weight of another +AEtna or Sinai to the already staggering load that chafed her back; +and, sorely grieved thereat, she began casting in her mind what might +be done to lighten it a little. + +"My young Colonies," said our mother to herself, "which were planted +by my love so many years ago, have grown to a goodly size, and +prospered in a wonderful manner, under my fostering care, for which +they owe me many thanks; and, being quite old and strong enough, must +now repay it by taking their due share of my heavy burden." + +Now, in all this, our mother did but deceive herself: for these +Colonies had been planted by her oppression, not by her love; they +had grown by her neglect, not by her fostering care. Therefore, they +did not, as she pretended, owe her either love or thanks, although +they gave her both; and she had no right to make them carry her burden +without their consent. Strange as it may appear, these infant Colonies +loved their mother to distraction, in spite of her unmotherly +treatment of them; and would have gone any length to serve her,--even +to the extent of bearing double the burden she would have laid on +them,--had she been wise enough to consult their wishes about the +matter, and suffer them to lay it on their own shoulders, in their own +fashion, and of their own free will. To this the perverse old mother +would not listen for a moment; and, without pausing to reflect what +might be the consequences, took an AEtna or a Sinai from the load on +her own shoulders, and clapped it on those of her children, who sat +down under it plump, and sturdily refused to budge until they should +be allowed to put it there themselves. Whereupon, this stiff-necked, +wrong-headed old Britannia (for such was her Christian name) was +exceeding wroth, made an outlandish noise among the nations, and even +went so far (you will be shocked to hear) as to swear a little. Seeing +there was no help for it but to remove this AEtna, she did so with as +good a grace as could be expected in a family-quarrel; but was so +indiscreet and short-sighted as still to leave a very small burden,--a +mere hillock indeed,--just by way, as she said, of showing that she +had the right to load and unload them when and how it suited her +sovereign pleasure best. + +Now, be it known, it was not the burden they had to carry of which +these generous and high-spirited Colonies complained so bitterly; but +that they should be denied the right of freely judging when and how +and wherefore they were to be taxed,--a right that had been the pride +and boast of Englishmen time out of mind. As for the matter of the +burden, had that been all, they could have danced, ay, and blithely +too, under AEtna and Sinai both, had the load but been of their own +choosing, of their own putting-on, and of their own adjusting. + +To add to their distress and humiliation, this hardest and +unnaturalest of mothers now set over them judges, who were strangers +to them, and loved them not; who were to hold their places, not, as +theretofore, during good behavior, but at her will and pleasure. +Another right, as dear to Englishmen as life itself, was taken from +them,--to wit, the right of trial by jury; which gave every person, +great or small, suspected or known to be guilty of any crime against +the laws of the land, the privilege of a speedy trial, in open court, +in the place where the crime may have been committed, and by a jury of +honest and impartial men. Instead of this, the person accused was to +be taken aboard some ship-of-war, likely as not a thousand miles from +Christian land, and there tried by some authorities of the navy, who +would know but little, and must needs care still less, concerning the +person under trial, or his offence. + +Under these and many other oppressions and injuries, the young +Colonies groaned grievously. But, for all that, they were not to be +subdued or broken. Time and again, they sent petitions to this +unkindest and wilfulest of mothers, beseeching her, in humble and +loving and dutiful terms, to remove this degrading burden from their +shoulders, and once more receive them as children into her maternal +bosom; warning her, at the same time, of what must be the melancholy +consequences, if she hearkened not to their prayers. Then was the +time, if ever, when, by a few kind words betokening a desire for +reconciliation, she might have secured and made fast the love of these +devoted and affectionate children for ever; and, had she been as wise +as she was powerful, even so would she have done. But, like the Egypt +of olden times, she did but harden her heart against them all the +more, even to the hardness of the nether mill-stone; and only sought +how she could the more easily grind them into obedience and +submission. She had grown to be mighty among the nations, this +Britannia. Her armed legions told of her power by land; her ships of +war and her ships of commerce whitened a hundred seas. The great sun, +that set on every kingdom of the known earth, she boasted never went +down on her dominion. Wherefore was she swollen and big with pride, +and from a high place looked haughtily down upon the little nations at +her feet. What height of presumption was it, then, in these +insignificant young Colonies, struggling for bare existence off there +on the uttermost edges of the civilized earth, thus to lift themselves +against her sovereign will, and dare dispute her high decrees! It was +not to be borne: she would humble them for this presumption, chastise +them for their disobedience, and show them what a terrible thing it +was to provoke her wrath. Her heart thus steeled to mercy, she stayed +not her hand, but sent her hosts of armed men in her fleets of armed +ships, to lay her heavy yoke, and fit it firm and fast on the necks of +her rebellious children. + +Beholding this, and that it were vain to hope for reconciliation, the +Colonies, with one voice, with one indignant voice, exclaimed, "Now, +since our mother seems bent on treating us as slaves and strangers, +and not as children, then are we compelled, in our own defence, to +treat her, not as our mother, but as a stranger and our enemy. And +bear us witness, O ye nations! how long and humbly and earnestly we +have prayed that there should be love and peace between us and this +our mother; and bear us witness also, that, although we now lift our +rebellious hand against her, there is no hatred in our hearts, even +now, but rather sorrow unspeakable, that she should at last have +driven us to this saddest, this direfulest of alternatives." Then, +moved with one spirit (that of the love of freedom), and bent on one +purpose (that of the defence of their sacred rights), they rose in +their young strength, and, commending their just cause to the God of +hosts, made that last appeal,--which, to a brave and virtuous people, +has ever been the last,--the appeal to arms. And so they did, while +the nations looked on in wonder and applause. + + + + +XXIV. + +THE CAUSE OF THE QUARREL. + + +But, my children, I must tell you, in other and perhaps plainer words, +what these measures were that led to such momentous results, why +resorted to, how carried out, and by whom. + +From what you have just been told, you can have no difficulty in +guessing that Great Britain was desperately in debt, and in the very +mood to resort to desperate measures of delivering herself therefrom. +Her being in this particular mood at that particular time (for it is +only now and then that she has shown herself so unamiable) was owing +chiefly to the fact, that she was just then under the rule, or rather +misrule, of that narrow-minded, short-sighted, hard-fisted, +wrong-headed man, who commonly goes in history by the name of King +George the Third. Had he been the superintendent of a town workhouse, +he might perhaps have acquitted himself respectably enough; or, if I +may be so bold, he might have served a life-term as Governor of London +Tower, and gone to his grave without any great discredit or reproach: +but, in all human reason and justice, he certainly had no more +business on the throne of England than your Uncle Juvinell himself. +His ministers, who were of his own choosing, were vultures, of the +same harsh, unsightly plumage, and, at his beck or nod, stood ready to +do whatever knave's work he might have on hand,--even to the grinding +of his people's bones to make his bread, should his royal appetite +turn that way. + +With such men at the helm of State, it is no wonder, then, that unwise +and oppressive measures should be resorted to for raising money, or, +as it is more properly called in such cases, a revenue, for paying the +debts and keeping up the expenses of the government. The first pounce +they made was on their young Colonies in America, whom they sought to +burden with heavy taxes laid on exports, or articles of commerce sent +out of the country, and on imports, or articles of commerce brought +into the country. The principal articles thus taxed were paper, +painters' colors, glass, sugar and molasses, and tea. The tax-money or +revenue scraped together from the sale of these articles--and which +made them dearer to him who bought and him who sold, according to the +amount of duty laid on--was to be gathered into the public treasury +for the purposes aforesaid. Another plan for raising revenue, hit upon +by these ingenious kites, was that famous one called the "Stamp Act," +the design of which was to compel the people of the Colonies, in order +to make their business transactions good and valid, to use a certain +kind of paper, having on it a certain stamp. Each kind of paper had +its own particular stamp, and could only be applied to a certain +purpose specified thereon. Thus there was a deed stamp-paper, the will +stamp-paper, the note-of-hand and bill-of-exchange stamp-paper, the +marriage stamp-paper; and, in short, stamp-paper for every concern in +life requiring an instrument of writing. The paper itself was +altogether a commodity of the government, by whom it was manufactured, +and sold at prices varying from a few pence up to many pounds sterling +of good, hard English money, just according to the magnitude or nature +of the business in hand. Had it gone into effect, it must needs have +borne on the dead as well as on the living: for, if the last will and +testament of a deceased and lamented relative were not written on +paper with the proper stamp, it could not have been good and valid in +the king's eyes; and this would have led to grievous misunderstandings +between the bereaved and affectionate heirs, and perhaps the deceased +himself, in consequence, would have slept uneasily in his grave. + +Another oppressive measure--the design whereof, however, was for +saving money, rather than for raising revenue--was that of quartering +troops upon the country in time of peace; by which means they must +needs be supported to a great extent by the people so sponged upon. + +But the most brilliant stroke of all was an act forbidding the +Colonies from trading with any foreign ports, and from manufacturing +certain articles, lest the value and sale of the same articles +manufactured in England, and to be sold in America, might be lowered +or hindered thereby. + +I have already mentioned, how that the right of choosing their judges +and other civil officers, and the right of trial by jury, had been +taken from them,--measures that had a meanness and odium quite their +own; as serving no end of profit, but merely as safety-valves, through +which the royal bile might find vent now and then. + +Now, the good people of the Colonies, as I have hinted elsewhere, +would not have raised the hue and outcry that they did against these +measures, had it not been for one thing, which to them, as Englishmen, +was all in all; to wit, the right of taxing themselves, and +legislating or making laws for themselves through persons of their own +choosing, called representatives. And this is, my little folks, what +is meant by taxation, and legislation by representation, in a nation. +You will do well to bear this in mind continually; for it is the very +keystone to the arch of all true government. + +This right of representation, however, was denied them; for what +earthly reason, no one, not in the secret, could imagine. As the king +himself was never able to render a reason for any thing he did, his +ministers would not for any thing they did, and the parliament dared +not for any thing they did. + +What could they do, then, but send petitions to the king, and +remonstrances to the parliament, complaining of, and crying out +against, their many grievances, and deploring and demanding that they +be removed and redressed. Although they did this with more dignity and +respectfulness, with more clearness and ability, than the like thing +had ever been done before, or has been since, by any people, yet their +petitions were spurned by the king, because they were just and manly, +and he was not; and their remonstrances went unheeded by the +parliament, because they were wise and reasonable, and it was not. + +Failing to get redress for their grievances, the colonists resolved +that the source of these same grievances should not be a source of +profit to those who imposed them. To bring about this result, they, as +one man, entered into what was called the "non-importation +agreement,"--or, in other words, an agreement by which they solemnly +pledged themselves to abstain from the use of all articles burdened +with a tax, until such tax should be removed; and, furthermore, that +they would not buy or use any thing that they were forbidden to +manufacture themselves; and, still furthermore, that not a ship of +theirs should trade with British ports, until the act forbidding them +to trade with foreign ports should be repealed. Some of them, I dare +say, would have gone so far, had that been possible, as to pledge +themselves not to die, until the Stamp Act, compelling them to write +their wills on stamp-paper, was also repealed. This agreement was so +rigidly observed, that the men took to wearing jeans, and the women +linsey-woolseys, which they wove in their own looms; the old ladies +drank sassafras-tea, sweetened with maple-sugar; and old gentlemen +wrote no wills, but declared them on their death-bed to their weeping +families by word of mouth. Whether the people stopped marrying or not, +it is not known with certainty; but from my knowledge of human nature, +which is extensive, I do not think I should greatly hazard my +reputation as a historian, were I to state flatly, roundly, and +emphatically, that it had not the least effect in that way. + +The days on which these measures were to go into effect were observed +by the colonists as days of fasting, prayer, and humiliation. All +business was laid aside, the shops were closed, the churches opened, +and the church-bells tolled as on some funeral occasion; and between +praying at church, and fasting at home, and brooding over their +grievances, the good people were very miserable indeed. Although they +suffered great inconvenience from their observance of the +non-importation agreement, yet they bore it patiently and cheerfully, +like men who felt that their cause was just and right. But the sudden +stoppage of the immense trade that flowed from the colonial ports into +those of the mother-country told dreadfully on the commerce of Great +Britain; and British merchants and British manufacturers, and British +people in general, soon began to suffer even more than the colonists +themselves. Whereupon, a counter stream of petitions and remonstrances +set in upon the king and parliament from the people at home, who +declared that the country would be ruined, if these odious measures, +crippling American commerce, were not speedily withdrawn. Said they, +"If we cannot sell the Americans our broadcloths, our flannels, and +our silks, the obstinate men of that country will stick to their +jeans, and the perverse women to their linsey-woolseys, till we are +undone for ever. In that one pestilent little town of Boston, our +trade in silks alone is not so good by fifty thousand dollars a year +as it has been heretofore: and we humbly entreat that our American +brothers be allowed to trade with us and foreign nations as in days +gone by; for you must see by this time with your own eyes, that we, as +a nation, are growing poorer every day under this state of things, +instead of richer every year as had been expected." + +The commissioners--that is to say, the persons who had been appointed +by the British Government to bring or receive the stamp-paper, and +give it circulation throughout the Colonies--were mobbed and pelted by +the indignant people, whenever and wherever they made the least +attempt to do their odious work. In consequence of this determined +opposition, the paper never went into circulation: so it was stocked +away in outhouses, and there left to mould and to be eaten by rats and +mice, if their stomachs were not too dainty for such vile provender. +Thus this famous piece of ingenuity, the Stamp Act, had no other +effect than that of giving the civilized world a hearty laugh, and +increasing the British debt just so much as the paper cost, instead of +lessening it, as its inventors, in their blind confidence, had hoped. + +Beholding how utterly had failed all their pet schemes for raising +revenue, the narrow-minded king, and the king-minded ministry, and the +many-minded parliament, were, so to speak, thrown on their haunches, +and forced to eat their own folly; which, I dare say, they found less +palatable than their roast beef and plum-pudding. In other words, they +repealed the Stamp Act; with one stroke of the royal pen, struck off +the taxes laid on the above-mentioned articles; and once more gave the +Colonies full liberty to manufacture whatsoever, and re-open +commercial intercourse with whomsoever, they chose. And thus this +non-importation agreement worked like a charm: it brought about in a +trice what petitions and remonstrances had failed to accomplish in +years. + +When tidings came of what had been done at home, there was great +rejoicing throughout the provinces: the church-bells were tolled to +another tune than that with which they had been tolled a short time +before; the good people met at church, but this time to give thanks; +and went home, not to fast, but to feast; and were now quite as +comfortable as they had before been miserable. But I have gone a +little too far, however. There was one circumstance that greatly +dampened the general feeling of joy, and made a mere thanksgiving of +what might else have been a high-sounding jubilee. This was the tax on +tea, which had not been struck off along with the rest, but had been +suffered to remain; not that any great revenue was expected to arise +therefrom, but simply to show that they--the king and parliament--had +not disclaimed or yielded up the right to tax and burden the Colonies +when and how they thought fit and proper. This vexed the American +people sorely; for though the bulk of the nuisance had been taken +away, yet all the odor still remained: or, speaking more plainly, the +right of laying such burdens on themselves, of their own free will, +was still denied them; and this, in fact, was the very thing that made +it so intolerable for them to bear. "Is it," said Washington in a +letter to a friend, "the duty of threepence per pound upon tea that we +object to as burdensome? No; but it is the right to lay this duty upon +ourselves for which we contend." + +Therefore, as far as the commodity tea was concerned, the people of +the Colonies still observed the non-importation agreement. From some +of the ports, the ships that had come over from England laden with +this delightful plant were sent back, without being suffered to +discharge their cargoes; in others, where it had been landed, it was +not allowed to be sold, but was stowed away in cellars and the like +out-of-the-way places, where it moulded, or became the food of rats +and mice, whose bowels, if we may trust the testimony of some of our +great-grandmothers, were so bound up thereby, that a terrible +mortality set in among them, that swept them away by cart-loads. + +Now, the East-India Company, to whom had been granted the sole +privilege of trading in tea for the space of a hundred years, if I +remember rightly, were greatly alarmed at the consequences of the +tea-tax. Enormous quantities of the article had begun to accumulate in +their London warehouses, now that there was no market for it in +America, which hitherto had fed the purse in their left-hand pocket, +as did that in Great Britain the larger one in their right-hand +pocket. "Something must be done," said they to themselves (they +certainly said it to nobody else),--"something must be done, or these +high-spirited women of America will drink their wishy-washy sassafras +till their blood be no thicker than whey, and the purse in our +left-hand pocket become as light and lean and lank as when we sent our +first ship-load thither years ago." This "something to be done" was a +loud petition to parliament, praying for speedy relief from the ruin, +which has an uncomfortable fashion of staring at great mercantile +companies, and was now staring them full in the face. + +So, putting their heads together, the king and parliament hit upon an +ingenious plan, by which they, the East-India Company, could sell +their tea, and the government collect the duty thereon. It was this: +The price of the article should be so far reduced, that it would be +lower, even with the duty on it, than, at the usual rate of sale, +without any duty at all. This was a brilliant scheme indeed, and would +have succeeded to admiration, had the good people of America been a +nation of bats and geese; but, as they were not, the scheme failed +disgracefully, as you shall presently see. + +By way of giving this plan a trial, a few ships loaded with tea were +sent over to Boston, where they lay for some time in the harbor, +without being permitted by the people to land their cargoes. One day, +as if to show the king and ministers and parliament, the East-India +Company, and the whole British nation, that they, the Americans, were, +and had been from the very beginning, desperately in earnest in all +that they had said and done for years past, a party, composed of about +fifty of the most sober and respectable citizens of Boston and the +country around, disguised themselves as Indians, and went aboard these +ships. Not a word was to be heard among them; but, keeping a grim and +ominous silence, they ranged the vessel from stem to stern, ransacked +their cargoes, broke open the tea-chests, and, pouring their contents +into the sea, made the fishes a dish of tea, which is said to have had +the same effect on them as on the rats and mice. This done with +perfect coolness and sobriety, the party returned to their homes as +orderly and silent as they had come; not the first movement towards a +mob or tumult having been made by the people during the whole +proceeding. + +This affair, commonly known in history as the Boston Tea-party, and +which took place in 1774, overwhelmed his majesty with stupid +astonishment, threw his ministers into fits of foaming rage, fell like +a thunder-clap upon the House of Parliament, and effectually +demolished the last forlorn hope of the East-India Company. The spirit +of resistance on the part of the Colonies had now been carried to such +a length, that the home-government determined to send over the +military to awe them by the terror of its presence into obedience to +their unreasonable and oppressive demands; and, should not this be +found sufficient, to compel them into submission by the force of its +arms. + +Oh, woful, woful, that ever a tyrant should live to keep his +dragon-watch on the birth of the free-born thought, the independent +wish, and ere the full, clear light of heaven descend upon it, warming +it into strength and beauty, to seize and crush it into slavish fear, +and love and justice without power to stay his impious hand! + + + + +XXV. + +RESISTANCE TO TYRANNY. + + +With what deep and earnest interest Washington watched the course of +these momentous events may be readily imagined, if we reflect how much +of his life had been already spent in the service of the public, and +how near he had ever kept the good and welfare of his native land at +heart. + +He was not a mere looker-on, but one of those who had in the very +beginning shown themselves ready to enter, heart and hand and fortune, +into all just and lawful measures of resistance to oppression in every +shape and form; but, with his usual modesty, forbearing to push +himself forward, which served, no doubt, to add to his example still +greater weight and influence, and make it all the more illustrious. He +rigidly observed the non-importation agreement, and was, in fact, one +of the first to propose its adoption; and none of the articles therein +named were to be seen in his house until the odious burdens laid +thereon had been removed. + +Little or no lasting good, however, could be expected from these, or +indeed any measures, unless the Colonies should come to a clearer and +fuller understanding, one with another, touching the troubles that +concerned all equally and alike. To bring this much-to-be-wished-for +end about, it was resolved that a general assembly of all the Colonies +should be called, wherein each province, through its representatives +chosen by the people thereof, should have a voice. As the first step +towards this object, conventions were summoned in the various +provinces, the members whereof had the authority to choose from among +their number those who were to be their representatives or +mouth-pieces in this great Colonial Assembly, since known in history +as the Old Continental Congress. + +Patrick Henry (the great American orator), Mr. Pendleton, and +Washington were those appointed to represent Virginia. Accordingly, +about the middle of September, 1774, these three Congress-men set out +together on horseback for Philadelphia, the place of meeting. Arrived +here, Washington found assembled the first talent, wisdom, and virtue +of the land. It was to him a sublime spectacle indeed,--that of the +people of many widely separated provinces thus met together to give +voice and expression to what they felt to be their sacred rights as +freemen and free Englishmen. To add still greater solemnity to their +proceedings, and give their cause the stamp of the just and righteous +cause they felt it to be, it was resolved to open the business of each +day with prayer. Next morning, there came a report that Boston had +been cannonaded by the king's troops, who had been stationed there for +many weeks past. Although this afterwards turned out to be false, yet, +at the time, it had a most beneficial effect, in drawing still nearer +together those who but the day before had met as strangers, by +impressing their minds with a still deeper sense of the sacredness of +the trust imposed on them by their country, and by bringing more +directly home to them their common danger, and dependence one upon +another. The minister, before offering up his prayer, took up the +Bible to read a passage therefrom, and, as if providentially, opened +at the thirty-fifth Psalm, which seemed to have been written expressly +for this great occasion, and began thus: "Plead my cause, O Lord, with +them that strive with me; fight against them that fight against me." +What wonder, then, that, under circumstances like these, they should +feel their hearts joined together in stronger, holier bonds of union, +as they knelt side by side on that memorable morning, commending their +just cause to the Ruler of nations? For several minutes after they had +resumed their seats, a profound and solemn silence reigned throughout +the house; each looking the other in the face, as if uncertain how to +set about the great work that had brought them together, and no one +willing to open the Assembly. The silence was becoming painful and +embarrassing; when Patrick Henry at length arose, and began addressing +the House, at first in a faltering voice and hesitating manner, which +soon, however, as he warmed with his subject, gave place to a bolder, +higher strain, till, long before he had ended, the hearts of his +hearers were thrilled with a flow of eloquence, the like of which none +present had ever heard before; and, when it ceased, each felt that he +had just been listening to the greatest orator, not of Virginia only, +but of all America. The burden of his declamation was the oppressive +and unlawful system of taxation devised by Great Britain against her +American Colonies; the severe restriction laid on their commerce; the +abolition of the right of trial by jury, and of choosing their own +judges; the danger that must ever threaten their liberties, if they +suffered troops of war to be quartered upon them in times of peace; +and, above all, that they should be denied the right of taxing +themselves, of making their own laws, and of regulating their internal +concerns, as seemed to their judgment wise and proper, through +representatives of their own choosing. To get redress for these and +similar grievances, was the chief, and, I may say, the only object for +which this first Congress had been called; for at that time, and for a +long time after, no one harbored such a thought as that of breaking +with the mother-country, with a view of achieving their independence. +To this end, they now applied themselves with deep and sober +earnestness, and brought to their work all the resources that their +wisdom and experience could command. + +The first session of the Old Continental Congress lasted fifty-one +days. Such was the decorum with which they conducted their +proceedings, such the eloquence, force, and precision with which they +set forth their grievances, such the temperate and dignified tone that +marked their petitions to the king, and such the manliness, firmness, +and unwavering constancy with which they persisted in battling for +their right as freemen to be represented in the councils of the +nation, that thousands of their brothers across the Atlantic were +filled with wonder and admiration. And here, for once and for all, be +it known to you, my dear children, and, in justice to the British +nation as a people, never fail hereafter to bear it in mind, that +there were many, very many, perhaps a large majority, of our English +uncles, who deeply sympathized with our fathers in their troubles, and +heartily condemned the oppressive burdens heaped upon them by the king +and his ministers. Even in the House of Parliament itself were there +many of the greatest spirits of that age, who had all along opposed +these harsh and unjust measures of the government towards the +Colonies, and were now so impressed with all that marked the +proceedings of this first Colonial Congress, that they exerted +themselves in behalf of their oppressed brothers in America with more +zeal than ever before, and pleaded their cause in strains of eloquence +that shall ring in our ears, and dwell in our hearts, till history +shall tell us we have ceased to be a nation. + +And well indeed they might admire and praise; for what with the +eloquence of such men as Henry and Rutledge, the learning of such men +as Hancock and Adams, the wisdom of such men as Washington, and the +pure and exalted character of them all, it was a body of men, the like +of which had never before assembled together in any age or country. + +Patrick Henry, upon being asked who was the greatest man in the +Congress, replied, "If you speak of eloquence, Mr. Rutledge, of South +Carolina, is by far the greatest orator; but, if you speak of solid +information and sound judgment, Col. Washington is, beyond all +question, the greatest man on that floor." Had Mr. Rutledge been asked +the same question, he would as readily have pronounced Patrick Henry +the greatest orator, as indeed he was. + +Bent on one common object, encompassed by dangers that threatened all +alike, and glowing with the same ardent and heroic spirit, they seemed +for the time to have quite forgotten that they were the natives and +representatives of many different and widely separated provinces, and +to think that they were, as Patrick Henry happily expressed it, not +Carolinians, not Pennsylvanians, not Virginians, so much as that they +were Americans; and had been sent there, not so much to represent the +will and wishes of the people of their respective provinces, as of +those of the whole American people. Thus Union became the watchword +throughout the Colonies. And by union alone were they able to make a +stand against tyranny; by it alone came off victorious in the end; by +it alone won for themselves a place among the nations; and by it alone +can their posterity hope to hold that place as a powerful, free, and +happy people. + +Having done all that could be done for the present, the Congress was +adjourned, and the members returned to their homes to await the result +of the petitions and remonstrances they had sent on to the king and +parliament. Although these were couched in moderate and respectful +terms, expressing their unaltered attachment to the king and his +family, deploring that there should be aught but peace and good-will +between them, and entreating him not to drive his children to the +dreadful alternative of taking up arms in their defence, yet, like +those that had gone before them, they were received with contempt or +indifference, and failed to awaken in the king's mind any sentiment of +mercy, or desire on the part of the parliament for reconciliation with +their younger brothers in America. Here was the last, the golden +opportunity, wherein, by an act of simple justice, by an expression of +Christian kindness, they might have won back to obedience and love +this much-injured people; but under the mistaken and fatal belief +that they were all-powerful, and that, if they yielded up these +pretended rights, the colonists would never rest until they had thrown +off and trampled under foot all authority, they suffered it to pass +unheeded, lost for ever. + +A short time after the adjournment of Congress, at a second Virginia +Convention, held at Richmond, Patrick Henry, in closing one of the +grandest efforts he ever made, thus boldly declared his mind: "The +time of reconciliation is past; the time for action is at hand. It is +useless to send further petitions to the government, or to await the +result of those already addressed to the throne. We must fight, Mr. +Speaker: I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the +God of hosts is all that is left us!" The great orator did but give +voice to the feelings and sentiments of thousands of pure patriots, +among whom was Washington, who represented his district in this +convention also. No one regretted more sincerely than he that they +were thus compelled to take up the sword as the only remedy of their +wrongs and grievances. In his own mind, he had fully resolved, if +needful, to devote his life and fortune to the cause; and was willing, +he told his brother, to arm and equip a thousand men at his own +expense, and lead them to the succor of Boston, at that time blockaded +by the British fleet. Grave and thoughtful, and pondering deeply all +these things, he went to his home; and, in this frame of mind, the +winter months passed slowly by. + +It was now apparent to all, that open hostilities between the Colonies +and the mother-country were no longer avoidable; and on the nineteenth +of April, 1775, the battle of Lexington announced to the world that +the first blood of a desperate struggle had been shed, and that civil +war, with all its train of horrors, had begun. + +When the tidings reached Mount Vernon, the impressions made on +Washington's mind were solemn and profound, if we may judge from a +letter written at the time, in which he says, "Unhappy it is to +reflect, that a brother's sword has been sheathed in a brother's +breast, and that the once-peaceful plains of America are to be +drenched with blood, or inhabited by slaves. Sad alternative! But can +a virtuous man hesitate in his choice?" Early in May, as he was just +on the eve of setting out for Philadelphia to take his seat in the +second session of the Congress, news reached him of the capture of +Ticonderoga by Col. Ethan Allen. It was a brilliant little exploit +enough, and the very kind to raise undue expectations in the many, who +looked no further into the future than to-night, when it is yet +evening; but it could have no other effect than to deepen the +thoughtfulness of a mind like Washington's, that could look through +the glare of these accidental hits of war, and behold the untried +perils still further beyond. + +As the war had now begun in earnest, so dreaded and deeply deplored by +all the good men, as the only remedy left to their distress, the +deliberations of the second Congress turned chiefly on the devising of +means for their defence and safety. Towards this object, nothing +effectual could be done till some person was fixed upon to be the +leader of the army, which they had yet, in large measure, to raise, +arm, and equip. + +There were not a few, who, for age, talent, experience, fortune, and +social position, as well as for the sacrifices they had already made +to the cause, were, in the opinion of their friends, and perhaps in +that of their own, justly entitled to this high distinction. After +some time spent in viewing the matter in all its bearings, and +carefully weighing the claims of each, without being able to fix upon +a choice, John Adams decided the question by addressing the House to +the following effect: That the person intrusted with a place of such +importance to Americans must be a native-born American; a man of large +fortune, in order to give him a strong personal interest in the issue +of the contest, and the means of carrying it on; he should be a man of +military experience, and accustomed to the government of large bodies +of men; he should be of tried integrity and patriotism, of great +courage and bodily endurance, and known ability; and a resident of +some central province, that in him might be blended the extreme +interests of North and South, which would tend to lessen the +jealousies of the two sections, and harmonize them, as it were, into +one. Such a province was Virginia, and such a man was Col. Washington; +whom, therefore, he commended to the favor and consideration of the +Honorable House. + +Before this address was ended, Washington, perceiving that he was the +person on the point of being singled out, rose from his seat, much +agitated and embarrassed, and hastily quitted the House. + +Next morning, Mr. Adams's recommendation was acted upon; and the +House, without a single dissenting voice, chose GEORGE WASHINGTON to +be _Commander-in-chief_ of all the army of the United Colonies, with +the salary of six thousand dollars a year. In his reply, Washington +expressed his grateful sense of so signal a proof of the confidence +reposed in him by his countrymen, and added,-- + + "But lest some unfortunate event should happen, unfavorable to + my reputation, I beg that it may be remembered by every + gentleman in this room, that I this day declare, with the + utmost sincerity, that I do not think myself equal to the + command I am honored with. As to pay, I beg leave to assure the + Congress, that, as no pecuniary consideration could have + tempted me to accept of this employment at the expense of my + domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to make any profit + of it. I will keep an exact account of my expenses: these, I + doubt not, they will discharge; and that is all I desire." + +In a letter to Mrs. Washington, informing her of the great change thus +made in his destiny, he deplores the hard necessity that makes it his +duty to give up the sweet pleasures of home and her society; and +exhorts her, in affectionate language, to bear up under their +separation with cheerfulness and fortitude; at the same time giving +her the gratifying assurance, that with her he could have more +happiness at Mount Vernon in one month, than he could hope to find +without her, were he to remain abroad seven times seven years. From +the tone of this letter, she must readily have guessed that the place +was not one of his own seeking. + +Accordingly, on the 21st of June, General Washington,--for so we must +now call him,--having received his commission, set out to take command +of the American army, then lying before Boston, which, being occupied +by the king's troops, was in a state of siege. A company of +Pennsylvania light-horse escorted him from Philadelphia to New York, +where he was received with all the honor due, not only to the high +station he had been called to fill, but also to his exalted character +and distinguished abilities. Here he heard further particulars of the +battle of Bunker's Hill, fought near Boston a few days before. From +New York, the general-in-chief proceeded to Boston, and was greeted +everywhere on the way with the greatest enthusiasm by the people, who +came streaming in from all quarters to behold the man into whose +keeping had been intrusted the destinies of America. + +Thus, my dear children, I have brought you, step by step, up to that +great event in Washington's life when his character and actions were +to be subjected to the gaze and scrutiny, not only of his own age and +country, but of all ages to come, and of all the nations of +Christendom. + + + + +XXVI. + +CONCLUSION. + + +Here Uncle Juvinell paused, and, with a countenance of undisturbed +sobriety, emptied his ninth mug. In justice, however, to the good man, +this pattern of old-fashioned gentility, it must be borne in mind, +that the mug was a Dutch mug, and consequently a small one (as indeed +are all things Dutch, from clocks to cheeses); and also that, small as +it was, he never more than half filled it, except once or twice in the +course of an evening, when he would gird up his loins, as it were, +with a brimmer to help him over some passage in his story of unusual +knottiness and difficulty. + +Willie (whose surname should have been fox or weasel or lynx), having +heretofore divided his attention between what his uncle imparted and +what he imbibed, had, by careful counting, discovered that the ninth +mug invariably closed their evening lessons: so, without waiting for +any further signal that such was now the case, he alertly bounced from +his chair, and, snatching up a basket of big red apples that black +daddy had just brought in and set on the hearth, began handing them +round to the rest of the company with a great show of playing the +polite and obliging, but taking care, when unobserved, to pick out the +largest and mellowest one of them all for himself, and smuggle it +under his coat-tail. When all were helped, he reset the basket on the +hearth, and with a grand flourish, unmasking his royal red, opened +wide his mouth, as if he would have bolted it whole: but, seeming to +think better of it, he carefully laid it in Uncle Juvinell's mug, +which it exactly filled, saying as he did so, "It goes to my heart to +part with you; but only the king of historians is worthy to enjoy the +queen of apples." Then, plunging his hand into the basket, he snatched +up another, hap-hazard, and began eating it with savage voracity, as +if made reckless by this act of self-denial. Re-seating himself as he +had chosen his apple, hap-hazard, he missed his chair, and keeled +over, bringing his heels in the air where his head should have been, +and his head on the rug where the dog and cat were, and the +half-munched plug in his mouth, plump into his windpipe, so as to +almost strangle him out of his breeches, and cause his buttons to fly +like grains from a corn-cob when thrown into a corn-sheller. Of +course, all the little folks fairly screamed with laughter, in which +even Uncle Juvinell could not help joining right heartily: nor would +he venture upon the broad wedge which he had cut out of his apple, +till his chuckle was well ended; when he remarked, that "Willie was +one of the boys we read about." To which Willie, picking himself up +again, replied, that "he rather thought he was not, just then, but +perhaps would be as soon as he could get back some of the breath he +had lost, and gather up the buttons he had shed." Then, drawing down +his waistcoat from under his arm-pits to hide a breadth of white +muslin not usually intended for the eyes of a mixed company, he +reseated himself with such care and circumspection, that the middle +seam of his breeches tallied exactly with the middle round of the +chair-back, and began mincing and nibbling his apple delicately like a +sheep, as if to show that he meant to profit by the lesson his fit of +strangling had taught him. + +After a little while, when he saw that the children had had their fill +of laughter and red apples, Uncle Juvinell wiped the blade of his +knife with his bandanna, and said, "And now, my darlings, don't you +think we are getting along swimmingly?" + +"Swimmingly!" they all chimed in with one voice. + +"Gloriously?" again inquired Uncle Juvinell. + +"Gloriously!" cried all the children at once, as pat to their uncle's +words as an echo to the sound. Whereupon the old gentleman's +spectacles shone with a lustre that was charming to see. In a moment +after, however, Bryce, the pugnacious urchin of ten, expressed himself +a little disappointed that they had had so much building of forts, and +digging and cutting of roads, and so much scouting and marching, and +so much getting ready to fight, and yet withal so little downright +fighting. + +"You quite forget, Bryce, that affair of Grant's defeat there at Fort +Duquesne," said Willie. "In my opinion, that was a very decent, +respectable piece of bloodshed; and quite as good as Braddock's +disaster, as far as it goes." + +"How heartless you must be, Willie, to speak so lightly of such +horrible things!" exclaimed Miss Laura with a look of refined disgust. +"To my mind, Washington's courtship and wedding, and the pleasant life +he led at Mount Vernon, are more entertaining than all your dismal +battles." + +"And those charming barge-rides by moonlight," chimed in Ella, "that +the old Virginia planters used to take when they visited each other up +and down the Potomac." + +"You are welcome to your courtships and your weddings and your +boat-rides by moonlight," cried Willie, turning up his nose; "but I +would not have given a good fox-hunt with old Lord Fairfax for any of +them: and what a glorious fellow Washington must have been, with his +fine horses and his fine dogs, and his jumping twenty-one feet seven +inches at a bound!" + +"Oh, Willie! how can you be so wanting in respect as to call such a +man as Washington '_fellow_'?" exclaimed Laura, with a look of pious +horror. "I am astonished at you!" + +"But I said he was glorious; didn't I now, Miss Over-nice?" retorted +Willie. + +"Your Cousin Laura, William, is quite right in what she says," +observed Uncle Juvinell, with something like severity in his look and +tone. "We should never speak of the good and great in other terms than +those of esteem and reverence; for the effect of such a habit is to +cultivate in ourselves those very qualities of mind and heart which +make them worthy of our love and admiration." + +Willie was somewhat abashed by this mild rebuke, and apologized in a +dumb way by coughing a time or two behind his slate. + +"Uncle," inquired Ella, "is transcendentalism an art or a science?" + +"I think I can tell you what that is, Ella," Daniel made haste to put +in; for he never let an opportunity slip of showing off what he knew +to the best advantage. + +"I did not call upon you for information, Mr. Wiseacre," said Ella, a +little nettled at her brother's air of superior wisdom. + +"Nevertheless," cried Uncle Juvinell, "let us listen, and be wise. +Come, give us the benefit of your knowledge, Daniel, touching this +important matter." + +"I overheard father say to you the other day," replied Daniel, without +hesitation, "that your transcendentalism, uncle, was an equal mixture +of opium, moonshine, fog, and sick-man's dreams." + +"Good! you have hit it exactly!" cried Uncle Juvinell; "and, to reward +you for your diligence in picking up and storing away such precious +bits of knowledge, I promise you for your next Christmas present a +gilt-edged copy of Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's Progress.'" + +"I thank you very much, dear uncle," replied Dannie; "but, if it makes +no difference with you, I would prefer 'Josephus' to 'Bunyan.'" + +"Certainly, certainly, my dear nephew; it shall be as you wish," +replied Uncle Juvinell, a little provoked with himself for having been +so thoughtless as to overlook the fact, that Daniel, being a +curly-headed, Jewish boy, was not likely to be much interested in the +ups and downs of good old Christian's doleful pilgrimage. + +"Tell me, uncle," cried John, who had an ear for rhyme, "what is meant +by taxation, and legislation by representation, in a nation. Is it +sense, or only poetry?" + +"Bad poetry, but mighty good sense, my little boy," replied Uncle +Juvinell; "and, if you will be right attentive, I will endeavor to +make clear to you what is meant thereby. In a popular form of +government,--such as the one we live under,--the people tax +themselves, and make laws for themselves, through persons chosen by +themselves, and from among themselves, to serve for a certain term of +months or years in our State Legislatures or in our National +Congress, as the case may be. The persons whom the people thus +authorize to tax them and make laws, or, as it is otherwise termed, to +legislate for them, representing, as they do, the will, desires, and +wants of the communities by whom they are chosen, are called +representatives; and hence the phrase, 'taxation, and representation +by legislation.'" + +"In a nation," added Johnnie, by way of giving it a finish, and to +show that it was all as clear as day to him. + +"Yes, in a nation and a state too," rejoined Uncle Juvinell, with a +merry twinkle in his eye. + +"Will you have the kindness, uncle," said Dannie, "to tell us the +difference between a legislature and a congress and a parliament?" + +"In our own country," replied Uncle Juvinell, "a legislature is the +law-making assembly of a State, and Congress is the law-making +assembly of the whole nation; while Parliament is the great law-making +or legislative assembly of Great Britain and Ireland. The rules and +regulations in all these bodies are quite similar; and, besides being +vested with the power of laying taxes and making laws, they perform +other services necessary to the safety and welfare of the state or +nation. Thus the old Continental Congress was composed of +representatives from all the thirteen States, which entitled each, +through its representation, to one vote, and to equal weight and +influence with the rest, in the acts and deliberations of this +assembly, no matter what may have been its size and population, +whether large or small; nor what the number of its representatives, +whether one or several." + +"And will you also tell me, uncle, wherein a convention differs from +all these legislative assemblies?" said Daniel, grappling manfully +with the tall words, but staggering under them nevertheless. + +"Simply not being legislative at all, as the term is now generally +used in our country," replied Uncle Juvinell. "A convention is a body +of men assembled together as representatives of a party or state or +nation, for some special purpose, such as the formation of a new State +Constitution, or for making changes in an old one, or to give +expression to the views and designs of a party, and to nominate +candidates to the various offices of the government; which purpose +being effected, they are dissolved, and cease to exist or to have any +legal force." + +"And why, uncle, was the name 'Continental' given to our first +Congress?" inquired Willie. + +"To distinguish it from the Congress of the several States, and as the +one in which the common interest and welfare of all the States of the +continent were represented," was Uncle Juvinell's reply; and then he +added, "And hence the same term was applied to whatever belonged to +the States conjointly, and grew out of their union or confederation. +Thus, for example, besides the Continental Congress, there was a +Continental Army, raised, equipped, and supported at the joint expense +of all the States, and subject in a great measure to the control of +the Continental Congress. And there was the Continental uniform, which +was the uniform worn by an officer or a soldier of the Continental +Army. And there was the Continental currency, which was the +paper-money issued and put into circulation by the Continental +Congress, all the States unitedly holding themselves accountable for +its redemption in specie; or, in other words, binding themselves, +after having gained their independence as a nation, to take it back at +the value specified thereon, and giving to those who held it gold and +silver in exchange. But more of this in another place." + +"And what is a minister, uncle?" inquired Laura. "And what is a +commissioner, uncle?" chimed in Ella. "And what is a revenue, uncle?" +put in Charlie. "And what is a remonstrance, uncle?" inquired Bryce, +following up the attack. + +"Hold, you rogues! and one at a time!" cried Uncle Juvinell. "A +minister, Laura, in the sense in which we have been using the term, is +a high officer of State, intrusted with the control and management of +some office or department of the national government, such as that of +the navy or war or treasury or commerce or foreign affairs. All the +ministers, taken collectively, make up what is called the ministry; +who, besides discharging the duties of their respective offices, are +also expected to serve as counsellors to the king, and aid him in +carrying out the measures of the government. A commissioner, Ella, is +an agent appointed and authorized by another, or a number of others, +or a State, to transact some business of a private or public +character, as the case may be. A revenue, Charlie, is the income or +yearly sum of money of a State, raised from taxes on the people or +their property, from duties on foreign merchandise imported into the +country, and from the sale of public lands and other sources, to meet +the expenses of the government. A remonstrance, Bryce, is a +setting-forth in strong terms, either by writing or by word of mouth, +the facts and reasons against something complained of or opposed, as +unjust, unwise, or unadvisable." + +"I can't imagine," said Daniel, with the air of one who had weighed +well in his own mind a matter of importance, "what advantage to +themselves or to the nation George the Third and his ministers could +have expected, when they laid those heavy taxes on their American +Colonies, then took from them the power to pay them by crippling their +commerce and putting a stop to their manufactures; and it seems +strange to me that Englishmen could ever have denied to Englishmen the +rights and liberties of Englishmen, without having something more to +gain." Here Daniel broke down, and scratched his head; and Uncle +Juvinell, with an approving, good-humored smile, replied, "Those very +questions, Daniel, have puzzled many an older head than yours, and +many a wiser head than mine; and, indeed, some of the most learned +historians, who have written about these matters, have expressed +themselves perplexed at this strange conduct of the king and his +ministers, and have been able to account for it only on the +supposition, that they were all, for the time being, bereft of their +wits, and therefore rendered incapable of foreseeing the tremendous +consequences of their unjust and ill-judged measures." + +Much gratified at the interest the little folks had taken in such dry +matters, and seeing that they had no more questions to put to him, and +that some of the smaller ones were already nodding in their chairs, +Uncle Juvinell, by way of winding up the evening's entertainment, +concluded thus:-- + +"Some of you, my dear children, have read how good Christian, in his +pilgrimage to the Celestial City, went on sometimes sighingly, +sometimes comfortably, until he came to the foot of a hill called +Difficulty, where he found three roads to choose between. The one to +the right went around the bottom of the hill, and led into a +wilderness of dark woods, out of which no one ever found his way again +after venturing therein. The one to the left went likewise around the +bottom of the hill, and led into a wilderness of dark mountains, which +was even more difficult to escape from than the one to the right. But +the middle road, which was narrow and straight, went right up the +steep and flinty sides of the hill, and was the route that led direct +to Mount Zion. Not being the man to flinch from any difficulty, +however great, good Christian hesitated not a moment to choose the +middle road; and accordingly he fell from running to walking, and from +walking to going, and from going to clambering upon his hands and +knees, till he had made his way to the top. Here, as you must well +remember, there met his view a stately palace called Beautiful, kept +by a company of prim, precise, proper, prudent, and pious maiden +ladies, who gave our weary pilgrim a cordial but well-considered +reception, and, besides admitting him to the hospitalities of the +house gratis, entertained him with a variety of pleasing and edifying +discourse. And you have not forgotten, either, how, when they had a +clear morning, these discreet and well-ordered damsels, to reward him +for the zeal and diligence with which he had heretofore pursued his +journey, as well as to encourage him to still further effort, led him +up to the top of their house, whence he might have a delightful view +of the Delectable Mountains, far, far away. And you also still hear in +mind, how poor Christian must needs pass through the dismal Vale of +Humiliation, and there meet in deadly fight the terrible monster +Apollyon; then through the Valley and Shadow of Death, with all its +doleful sights and sounds; then through the wicked city of Vanity +Fair; then through the gloomy domains of Doubting Castle and Giant +Despair,--all before he could hope to set foot on these Delectable +Mountains of Emanuel's land. + +"Now, do you not see, my dear children, that not altogether unlike +good Christian's case, at this stage of his journey, is that of our +own at this point of our story? But a little while ago we were +trudging along, sometimes heavily, sometimes swimmingly, till by and +by we reached the bottom of our Hill Difficulty; by which, of course, +you understand me to mean the causes that brought about our +Revolutionary War. And here, had we gone to the right or the left, we +should most assuredly have wandered into a wilderness of romance and +Brobdignagian wonders, among whose mazes we would have become +entangled beyond all reasonable hope of escape. But our eyes were +opened to our danger; and like good Christian, by whose example we +might profit oftener than we do, we knew in what direction lay our +best interest, and were not to be enticed astray by the prospect of +ease or novelty, nor turned back by flinty facts and rough realities. +So straightway up the difficult hill we marched, lofty and steep as it +was; and hardly left a stone unturned till we had scrambled to the +top. This gained, we have felt it our privilege to halt and rest a +while, and refresh ourselves with a little pleasing and edifying +discourse, one with another, touching what we have seen or heard in +the course of our journey. + +"We have thus surmounted the most tedious and difficult part of our +story. But still there lies before us many a hard-fought battle, many +an irksome siege, many a forlorn retreat, many a gloomy winter-camp, +and many a season of doubt and discouragement, privation and dire +calamity, through which we must pass before we can hope to set our +weary feet on the Delectable Mountains of Freemen's Land, smiling +invitingly beyond. But to reward you for the diligent attention with +which you have followed me thus far, as well as to entice you to +trudge on to the end, I will, from this elevated point, unfold to your +view a glimpse of this glorious region, ere 'the war-clouds rolling +dun' from the plains of Lexington and the heights of Bunker's Hill +have too much obscured our morning sky. + + "See yon land of shining mountains, + Stately forests, verdant dells, + Sun-bright rivers, sparkling fountains, + Healthful breezes, balmy smells, + Golden grain-fields, pleasant meadows, + Fruitful orchards, gardens fair, + Lasting sunshine, fleeting shadows! + Freedom dwells for ever there! + + Hark! what song is that high swelling, + Like an anthem dropped from heaven, + Of some joyful tidings telling, + Some rich boon to mankind given? + 'Tis a happy people, singing + Thanks for Freedom's victory won; + Valley, forest, mountain, ringing + With one name,--great Washington. + Through distress, through tribulation, + Through the lowering clouds of war, + They have risen to be a nation: + Freedom shines, their morning-star. + Would we reach those realms of glory, + Would we join that righteous band, + We must speed us in our story: + Come, let's on to Freemen's Land!" + +The next evening, the little folks, upon repairing to the library, +found their Uncle Juvinell seated, as was his wont, cross-legged in +his great arm-chair, looking with a fixed and absent gaze into 'the +glowing embers of the fire,' as if his thoughts were far away. + +In his hand he held an open letter which he had just brought from the +post-office, in the contents whereof, it was evident, he had found +somewhat of a painful character; for a slight shadow had dimmed the +brightness of his otherwise placid countenance. So rare a thing as +that of a cloud on their good old uncle's sunny face caught their +notice at once; and instead of gathering round him in their usual +coaxing, teasing, bantering, frolicsome way, they seated themselves +quietly on either hand, and awaited in respectful silence until he +should rise to the surface of the deep brown-study into which he +seemed to be plunged. But the longer he sat, the harder he looked at +the fire, and the deeper he sank into his revery, till the little +folks began to fear that it would be a full hour before he would reach +the bottom and come up again. + +Daniel, the young historian, sat watching his uncle's countenance with +his sharp black eyes, expecting each moment to hear him break the +silence with, "After the battle of Bunker's Hill;" or, "Washington, +upon his arrival at Boston;" or something to that effect. But, last in +his own thoughts, Uncle Juvinell still sat cross-legged in his +arm-chair, and spoke not a word. At last, just by way of reminding him +that a select and highly enlightened audience were in waiting to hear +him, Willie softly arose from his chair, and, filling the little Dutch +mug to the brim with rich brown cider, offered it to his uncle, with a +forward duck of the head and a backward jerk of the heel, which he, no +doubt, intended for a genteel bow. Uncle Juvinell took it; but set it +again, with an absent air, untasted on the table. Then, drawing his +spectacles down from his forehead, he again perused the letter he held +in his hand, with earnest attention, the shadow on his brow deepening +as he read. + +When he had finished, he laid it on the table, and finally broke the +long silence; his first words falling like ice-water on the ears of +the little folks. + +"Sad news for you, my dear children; sad news for us all! I have just +received a letter from my old friend and kinsman, Peter Parley, of +whom you have all heard so much, and to whom, for the many delightful +books he has written, the younger generations of America are more +indebted than perhaps to any man now living. In his letter he tells +me, that, owing to his declining health, and increasing years, he has +ceased his literary labors altogether, and betaken himself to New +Orleans, in whose milder climate he hopes he may, in some measure, +recruit his failing powers. What he says in addition to this I will +give you in his own words:-- + + "The effects of that unlucky fall on the ice, while crossing + Boston Common, so many years ago, I have felt in my right hip, + to a greater or less degree, ever since; and within the past + year my lameness has so much increased as to have become a + matter of much anxiety to my friends, and some uneasiness to + myself. Taking this in connection with the growing infirmities + of age, I sometimes have a foreboding that I shall never return + to Boston alive. + + "Under this impression, I now write you, my Cousin Juvinell, + entreating you, as my nearest living kinsman and much-beloved + friend, to come and see me at this place, and sojourn here with + me, until, in the wisdom of a kind Providence, it be determined + whether my span of life is to be shortened or lengthened yet a + little more. It will be a comfort to me to have you by my side + at the closing scene; and it may be that your cheerful presence + and sunny humor will do more to revive me than I can hope for + even from this mild, pleasant Louisiana air. + + "I know that your compliance with my request will for a season + prove a serious interruption to the enjoyment of the little + folks in your vicinity, whom you have taken under your wing, + and to whose entertainment and instruction so much of your + useful life is devoted. But they will, I am sure, without + hesitation, make this sacrifice in behalf of one who has for + many long years labored so hard and faithfully for their + happiness and improvement. Commend me kindly to them. Hoping to + see you at an early day, I remain, as ever, your affectionate + friend and kinsman, + + "PETER PARLEY." + +Uncle Juvinell went on: "I am gratified, my dear children, to see in +your grateful and sympathetic looks, saddened and disappointed though +I know you really to be, that you are ready and willing to sacrifice +what pleasure and entertainment my company and conversation may afford +you, to the comfort and wishes of this venerated and excellent man. My +going-away at this moment will, it is true, cause a sad interruption +to our story of the life of Washington; but next Christmas, if we all +be spared, and your Uncle Juvinell keep his memory fresh and green, we +will gather together again in this very room, and take it up where we +now drop it, and follow it through all its eventful changes to the +glorious and happy end. Meanwhile, ponder well in your minds what I +have already told you of the childhood, youth, and early prime of this +illustrious man. And after all, now that I give the matter a second +thought, we could not have been interrupted at a more suitable place; +for the account I have given up to this point needs scarcely a single +important particular to make it a complete and separate story. We +have followed him step by step, and seen how he rose, first from the +boy-farmer to the youthful surveyor, from that to the young colonel, +from that to the legislator of more mature years, and lastly from that +to commander-in-chief of the armies of a young and rising nation. + +"The history of his career after this period is, in fact, so closely +connected with that of his country, as to be altogether inseparable +from it. + +"And again I repeat, ponder well in your minds what I have already +told you, as being, after all, the part most necessary for you at +present to know. Ever strive to keep his example before your eyes, +ever to cherish his virtues in your hearts. Like him, be industrious +in your habits, diligent in your studies, polite in your manners, +orderly in your dress, peaceable in your disposition, upright in your +dealings, faithful in your friendships, patient under trials, +persevering under difficulties, strangers to covetousness, content +with little, moderate with much, generous, self-denying, courageous in +well-doing, pure in heart, devout in spirit, modest before men, +reverent to your parents, respectful to your superiors, humble before +God; and, like him, let the clear light of truth shine forth in all +your words, in all your actions, in all your looks and gestures, in +all your secret thoughts, and in your very souls. Be all this, that +men may reverence you, that angels may honor you, that God may bless +and reward you." + +Here Uncle Juvinell paused; and, as he looked round on the saddened +faces of his little auditors, a moisture crept out softly upon his +eyelashes, and dimmed the brightness of his spectacles. "It grieves me +much, my dearest children," said he, after a moment or two,--and there +was a tremor of deep fatherly feeling in his voice,--"it grieves me +much, that our happy little circle must be broken up. It will be but +for a season, however; and, when we meet again, we shall be happier +than had we not parted at all. On Monday, I take the stage-coach for +Louisville; and there I take the steamer 'Eclipse' for New Orleans. As +it is a long journey I have before me, I must needs write many +letters, and do a deal of packing, before setting out: so we will sing +our evening hymn now, and separate for the night." + +Then, joining their voices together, they sang that beautiful hymn, +"Though far away from friends and home." At the second line, +however,--"A lonely wanderer I may roam,"--the little folks fairly +broke down; their hearts rising into their throats from very grief, +and choking their voices: but, with all the ease of a professed +singing-master, Uncle Juvinell, though his heart was full too, glided +at once from the lowest bass to the highest treble, which he carried +alone, until some of the children, getting the better of their +feelings, chimed in with him, when he softly dropped to the very +bottom of his bass again. + +The hymn ended, the little folks came one by one, and, without +speaking a word, embraced and kissed their dear old uncle, this best +of men; he laying his gentle hand upon their bowed heads, and blessing +them with more than his usual fervor. + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Farmer Boy, and How He Became +Commander-In-Chief, by Morrison Heady + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FARMER BOY *** + +***** This file should be named 27012.txt or 27012.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/0/1/27012/ + +Produced by David Garcia, Karen Dalrymple, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Kentuckiana Digital Library.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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