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what had long been a desired attempt. He began at once to collect recruits and equipments, but not very successfully; and he was forced to pay a personal visit to Williamsburg to lay his case before the council. At last, after tedious delays, the expedition got under way. In spite of all Washington's representations, the well-known road which Braddock had used was abandoned; and all the hardship and toil of advancing by a new way from Raystoun in Pennsylvania had to be encountered. An advanced party of 800 men fell into an ambush and were defeated, much as Braddock's troops had been; but when at last the main army arrived in front of the dreaded fort, it was found to be evacuated; and on November 25, 1758, Washington, in command of the vanguard, had the satisfaction of planting the British flag on the ruins of the stronghold. The British rebuilt it and garrisoned it, rechristening it Fort Pitt, which name gave way eventually to the more civic Pittsburg. Washington, enfeebled in health, resigned his commission. Shortly afterwards, January 6, 1759, he was married to Mrs. Custis, a young and rich widow, with two children. Washington had not quite completed his twenty-seventh year.

Although Washington had left the military life, he had not deserted public life, for he took his seat in the House of Burgesses of Virginia, as member for Frederick County. The Speaker, in a formal and eloquent harangue, welcomed him to the Legislature, and thanked him, in the name of the colonists, for his brilliant military services. When Washington rose to reply he hesitated, blushed, stammered, and was unable to utter a word. 'Sit down, Mr. Washington,' said the Speaker, smiling. Your modesty equals your valour, and that surpasses the power of any language I possess.' Subsequently

Washington gained courage to take part in the business of the House; and though, perhaps, he was never a prominent member, he was always a useful one. Jefferson says of him: 'I served with General Washington in the Legislature of Virginia before the revolution, and during it with Dr. Franklin in Congress. I never heard either of them speak ten minutes at a time, nor to any but the main point, which was to decide the question. They laid their shoulders to the great points, knowing that the little ones would follow of themselves.'

At the close of the session George Washington retired with his wife to Mount Vernon. 'I am now,' he wrote, 'I believe, fixed in this seat, with an agreeable partner for life, and I hope to find more happiness in retirement than I ever experienced in the wide and bustling world.' Washington Irving thus describes the favourite retreat of the great President: 'The mansion was beautifully situated on a swelling height, crowned with wood, and commanding a magnificent view up and down the Potomac. The grounds immediately about it were laid out somewhat in the English taste. The estate was apportioned into separate farms, devoted to different kinds of culture, each having its allotted labourers. Much, however, was still covered with wild woods, seamed with deep dells and runs of water, and indented with inlets, haunts of deer, and lurking places of foxes. The whole woody region along the Potomac from Mount Vernon to Belvoir, and far beyond, with its range of forests and hills and picturesque promontories, afforded sport of various kinds, and was a noble huntingground. Washington had hunted through it with old Lord Fairfax in his stripling days; we do not wonder that his feelings throughout life incessantly reverted to it.'

Virginia was at that time one of the most aristocratic

colonies in America. Its old families held large estates, and imported the luxuries and customs of England. Their hospitality was lavish, and their houses were spacious and costly. A large Virginia estate, in those days, was a little empire, as Irving observes. The slaves not only cultivated the tobacco, the staple crop,-but among them were the carpenters and tailors and blacksmiths who were required. by the large establishment. In one important particular Washington differed from the majority of other Virginian planters. He attended to the affairs of his estate himself, with the most accurate minuteness, and kept his accounts and business-books with all his characteristic scrupulous care. He looked after the cultivation of his lands with his own eyes, and did not withhold the stimulus of his presence from his slaves and workmen. It was only a matter of course, therefore, that Mount Vernon estate became quite renowned for its fertility, and for the superior quality of its produce.

Washington's daily habits were most methodical and regular. He rose early and read or wrote until his frugal breakfast, which he took at seven in summer and at eight in winter. When he rose before daylight he used to kindle his own fire. Between breakfast and the two o'clock dinner he rode about his estate, inspecting any work that was going on. Tea followed early in the evening, and about nine o'clock. Washington retired for the night. His favourite recreations were fox-hunting, fishing, and duck-shooting. When he was in Williamsburg during the sessions of the Legislature, he took part in the dinners and balls that were given; and old ladies used to boast of having been a partner in the dance with the grave and formal Mr. George Washington. To his negroes he was kind and considerate. He never let them be overworked;

and he used sometimes to aid with his own hands in their operations. On one occasion he laboured with his blacksmith for two days, in the effort to construct a plough on a plan of his own. He carried the same spirit into the army, when he became commander-in-chief of the colonial forces. Once, when riding through camp out of uniform, he came upon a small party of soldiers, working under a non-commissioned officer upon some repairs. As he passed, the men were struggling desperately to raise a heavy log, and their commander was lavish in his vocal encouragements of 'Heave away! there she goes! up with it, men.' Washington reined his horse, and, turning to the man, asked why he did not lend a hand, as the beam seemed just beyond the strength of the party. The fellow seemed somewhat astonished, and,' continues Mr. Paxton Hood in his Uses of Biography, 'turning to the officer [Washington] with the pomp of an officer, said, “Sir, I am a corporal!" "You are not, though, are you?” said the officer. "I was not aware of that ;" and, taking off his hat and bowing, "I ask your pardon, Mr. Corporal!" Upon this he dismounted from his elegant steed, flung the bridle over a post, and lifted till the sweat stood in drops upon his forehead. When the timber was elevated to its proper station, turning to the man clothed in brief authority, "Mr. Corporal commander," said he, "when you have another such job, and have not men enough, send to your commander-in-chief, and I will come and help you a second time." The corporal was thunderstruck. It was Washington !'

In the peaceful retreat of Mount Vernon several years glided away, certainly not the least happy of Washington's life. He continued to be a member of the Virginia Legislature, until that body was dissolved in view of the great

revolution; and the periodic visits to the seat of government gave variety to his course of life. He had no children of his own; but his two step-children met with the tenderest fatherly affection and care from him.

Although the war between France and England came to a formal close in 1763, the troubles in America were not at once ended. The Indians were not at all disposed to give up the exciting and profitable system of incursion to which they had been encouraged, and they still remained troublesome. But there was a deeper and graver source of trouble; for the colonies began to break out in discontented murmurs against the home Government. The restricting monopolizing policy which Great Britain adopted towards her dependencies could not be borne. Tame submission was. the very last lesson that was to be learned from the past history of Great Britain herself; and the colonists claimed the past as their birthright as much as any native-born Britons. The real and ultimate causes of the American Revolution were both deeper and greater than the surface events that seemed immediately to provoke it. The aim of the British Government was to extract a revenue from the colonies by taxation; the colonies stoutly refused to be taxed, save by a legislature in which they were represented. Their determined resistance was not overlooked. in England. A strong party there deprecated at once the injustice and the impolicy of provoking too vigorous an opposition; but the king, George III., was obstinate, and he found ministers to support him. In March 1765 the Stamp Act was passed, enacting that all legal instruments, etc., in the colonies should be written on stamped paper, purchased from agents of the British Government. Virginia was the first colony to give voice to the general alarm and

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