REMINISCENCES OF DISTINGUISHED MEN.

Chapter One.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

EORGE WASHINGTON, the first President

of the United States, was born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, February 22, (old style, 11 1732, and died at Mount Vernon, December 14, 1799. The house in which he was born was in a parish called by the family name of Washington, near Pope's creek, a small tributary of the Potomac, about half a mile from its junction with that river. It was destroyed by fire during the boyhood of Washington, but in 1815, a stone, with a suitable inscription, was placed on the spot by George Washington Parke Custis. The family to which Washington belonged has not yet been satisfactorily traced in

England. The genealogies accepted by Sparks and Irving, and his other biographers, have been recently proved to be inaccurate. His great-grandfather, John Washington, emigrated to Virginia, about 1657, with his brother Lawrence. George Washington was the son of Augustine Washington and his second wife, Mary Ball. After the burning of the house at Pope's creek, his father removed to a house on the Rappahannock, a short distance below Fredericksburg. Here he died in 1743, leaving a large landed property to his widow and five children. To his oldest son, Lawrence, he bequeathed an estate on the Potomac, afterward known as Mount Vernon. George received only the education of the schools of the neighborhood, and his instruction at them did not go beyond reading, writing and arithmetic; with the addition--which must have been somewhat exceptional—of book-keeping and surveying. He paid some attention to the French language, after the army of Count de Rochambeau arrived in this country; but never attempted to speak it. His orthography was rather defective, a very common fault a century ago. Uniform tradition represented him to have attained an early development of physical strength. He took the lead in all the athletic sports and exercises of his companions. Though no great reliance can be placed upon most of the anecdotes which are related of his boyhood and youth, it is certain that he grew up of a vigorous, and, in early life, spare and agile frame, capable of nuch physical endurance, remarkably strong in the arms, and a bold and graceful rider. Nor is there any doubt that he

early acquired among his contemporaries, that character for justice, veracity and sterling honor, which he sustained through life. His elder brother, Lawrence, held a commission in one of the American regiments which were sent in 1740 to re enforce the army, under General Wentworth and Admiral Vernon, in the unsuccessful expedition against Carthagena. While on this expedition, Captain Lawrence Washington formed intimate, personal relations with the Admiral, and on his return at the close of the war, he gave to his newly occupied residence at Hunting Creek, the name of Mount Vernon, in honor of that popular naval hero. When George was 14 years old, a midshipman's warrant was obtained for him, and it is said that his clothes were packed to go on board ship. But his mother never cordially approved of the plan, and it was finally abandoned in consequence of her opposition. Tradition represents her as a woman of vigorous character and masculine will. He was trained by her in habits of frugality and industry, to obey rightful authority, and to speak the truth. George Washington had ever been the favorite of Lawrence, and after leaving school, passed much of his time at Mount Vernon, occupied in summer with the usual routine of plantation life, and in winter and the studious hours of the year, with his favorite branch, surveying; in which he became a great proficient. He made it his profession, and was much employed by the eccentric Lord Fairfax, an English nobleman, who had made his home in Virginia, where he had a vast estate, and lived in a substantial stone dwelling, called Greenway Court, in the Shenandoah

Valley, which was then a wilderness. Three years were spent in this way, passing the summers in surveying Lord Fairfax's estates, and the winters principally at Mount Vernon. The foundations of his fortune, as far as it was derived from his own acquisition, were probably laid in part by the knowledge gained by actual inspection of the rich lands in Western Virginia, of which he afterward become a large proprietor. In the course of his surveying tours, he frequently encountered parties of friendly Indians, and became familiar with their manners, a knowledge of which soon stood him greatly in stead. The very scene of his labors as surveyor, the Northwestern frontier of Virginia, became the theater of those movements and operations which formed the memorable commencement of his military career. The French and Indian war had its origin in the jealousy with which the French government contemplated the Ohio company, which was formed about this time, and of which Lawrence Washington was an active member. The attention of several of the colonial assemblies and of that of Virginia among the first, was early called to this subject. In the anticipation of an Indian war, and probably of a rupture with France, the government of that colony began military preparations. The province was divided into districts, in one of which, Washington, then but 19 years of age, received the appointment of Adjutant, with the rank of Major. But soon afterward his brother Lawrence was ordered to the West Indies for his health, and it was determined that George should accompany him. They sailed for Barbadoes in September, 1751, and

arrived after a voyage of five weeks They had scarcely been a fortnight in the island, when George was attacked with small-pox, by which he was slightly marked through life. Finding no material relief in Barbadoes, Lawrence Washington proposed to remove to Bermuda in the Spring, and George was sent back to conduct his sisterin-law to the last named island. He reached Virginia after a most tempestuous voyage; but his brother's health grew rapidly worse, and the proposed removal to Bermuda was abandoned. This was the only occasion on which Washington ever left the American continent. Lawrence Washington returned to Virginia in the summer of 1752, and died shortly after, at the age of 34, leaving a large fortune to an infant daughter, who did not long survive him. By his will, of which George was one of the executors, the estate of Mount Vernon, was, on the demise of the daughter, given to George, who added to it materially by subsequent purchases. Though the youngest of the executors named in the will, yet, owing to his more intimate acquaintance with his brother's affairs, and his prospective interest in the property, the active management of the estate devolved upon him. In the meantime, the prospect of a collision on the frontier increased. On the arrival of Dinwiddie, as colonial Governor, the military establishment was re-organized, and the province was divided into four districts, of which the Northern, including seven counties, was assigned to Washington, as Adjutant-General. The struggle of the French and English for the possession of the American continent was the great event of the middle of the 18th