CHAPTER VIII. In Duty's active round each day is past, As if she thought each day might prove her last: And meek Devotion smooths the brow of care. MORE. Where is the smile unfeign'd, the jovial welcome, Whose vaulted roof once rung with harmless mirth, MORE. AFTER the death of her son, which was, as we have seen, coeval with the virtual termination of the War of the Revolution,* the cares and affections of MRS. WASHINGTON were centered more continuously than they had been for many previous years at Mount Vernon, which was now the home of her widowed daughter-in-law and of her four little grand-children, who became, thenceforth, the objects of her especial attention and solicitude. It was now the chief delight and blessing of her bereaved and affectionate heart to * Oct., 1781. ૩૨ hear the gladsome sound Or the tread of tiny feet." In addition to the dear and interesting companions who were added permanently to the members of her household, Mrs. Washington continued, as she had hitherto done, when at Mount Vernon during the warmer months of the year, to gather round her those other family friends and connections who had long partaken her hospitality. Sorrow had never the effect to render her selfish; nor did she now forget what was due in this respect to her husband, as well as to her own personal obligations and attachments. But she was, of course, altogether disinclined to participate in the public rejoicings and festivities in which the Republican Commander-in-Chief was compelled by his public station to take part. It was not until after the formal conclusion of the Treaty of Peace, in 1783, that the multiplied domestic occupations and responsibilities so long resting upon Mrs. Washington, were again shared by her husband. His public duties resigned at last, and the pain of the pathetic and sublime scene of his final parting with his beloved companions in arms encountered and passed, Mrs. Washington proceeded as far as Annapolis to meet the retiring Cincinnatus, and they returned together to the peaceful retreat from which so many revolving years, and so many momentous occurrences had separated its illustrious master. It was on the eve of the great Jubilee of Christendom, that WASHINGTON, " an older man,"-to use his own expressive words,-" by nine years than when he left them," once more crossed his own threshold, and, beside his own hearth-stone, hailed the welcome joys of home! "The scene is at length closed," said the august Father of his Country, "I feel myself eased of a load of public care, and hope to spend the remainder of my days in cultivating the affections of good men, and in the practice of domestic virtues !" We leave our readers to imagine the glad enthusiasm that expressed the general delight of relatives, friends, and dependants, at the long. looked-for arrival of this grand epoch in the family history of the inmates of Mount Vernon; and the more quiet, but not therefore less heartfelt, enjoyment and gratitude of Mrs. Washington, on that happy Christmas Day, when a double zest was lent, each to the other, by the combined pleasures of gratified affection and fervent devotion. The soul of a religious being, when thus blessed, must ever take Devotion's wing; And, like the bird that hails the sun, Far soar towards Heaven;" and this sincere and devout Christian had too long and too unceasingly been accustomed to bear both her joys and griefs to the Cross of the Redeemer, not now to unite "the cup of thanksgiving" with her "sorrowful tears." The following pleasing sketch* of the mode of life contemplated with cordial anticipations of gratification by the Hero of America, upon his return to Mount Vernon, will also serve as a correct portraiture of the tastes and wishes of his amiable home-companion :— "At length, my dear Marquis, I am become a private citizen on the banks of the Potomac ; and under the shadow of my own vine and fig-tree, free from the bustle of a camp, and the busy * Extracted from a Letter written by Washington to La Fayette, Feb. 1, 1784.-Sparks' WRITINGS OF WASHINGTON, Vol. IX. 17. scenes of public life, I am solacing myself with those tranquil enjoyments, of which the soldier, who is ever in pursuit of fame, the statesman, whose watchful days and sleepless nights are spent in devising schemes to promote the welfare of his own, perhaps the ruin of other countries, as if this globe was insufficient for us all, and the courtier, who is always watching the countenance of his prince, in hopes of catching a gracious smile, can have very little conception. I have not only retired from all public employments, but I am retiring within myself, and shall be able to view the solitary walk, and tread the paths of private life with a heartfelt satisfaction. Envious of none, I am determined to be pleased with all; and this, my dear friend, being the order of my march, I will move gently down the stream of life, until I sleep with my fathers." Once thoroughly re-established in the beloved home of their earlier, and happy years, Genera and Mrs. Washington assiduously turned their attention to the enlargement of the family mansion, which still retained its original size, and to the further improvement and adornment of the adjoining grounds and gardens, all of which soon |