Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1851-03-04

ed gun at man for defending bis own
rights upon his own land The Big gun
was not fred; the only weapon in the &C.
ton, was the big horsea'hip.
Another remarkable trait in the charac-
ter of this great and good man, was his
derot;on to bis widowed mother, esen to the
end Of her life. After he was the object Of
a worlds admiration, be used to visit bis
mother, and showed the same filial obedi-
encc, that he did when boy When poo
pie would speak to her Of his high distinc-
ton and world-wid fame, she would only
say s.he was always dutiful son, ! hope
he has done his duty as man.
When he was about to be married,
he took his mothers house near Freder-
icksburg, in bis way to the residence his
intended; be had his portmanteau. with the
wedding suit in a wagon, which was to
come on after him, while at his mother IS the
wagon was unaecouutably delayed, and he
became fearful that some thing had happened
and that be might be obliged to make his
appearance on so interesting an occasion
without the marriage garment. lie there
fore wished to send special messenger
from Fredericksburg, across by pumfties,
towards Mount Vernon to learn the cause
of the delay, and to bring on at least the
portmanteau with the clothes There was
no time to spare, it must be done that
night, as he wished TO go on to his mafri-
age on the mex. day. ltrequircd a care.
full messenger, and a good horse, and lie
could not spare his own There was one
steed in the stable. that he we'll knew, his
mother favorite blood mare, but the good
lady, he knew like wise, took great pride
in and care of her mare So be would
no: venture even to propose it to her, but
contriyed to cffec. it without her knowl
edge; so he proposes to bis mothers TRASHY
house servant that he should mount the
marc. meet the wagon and bring on the
clothes; the boy at first demurred; what
would old misses say, If she was TO find it
out? Would Master George stand be-
tween him and harm, Il she did !? Not
sir, you must take the chances, but III
give you halfjoc, If you bring me the
portmanteau by tomorrow morning. FL
received the story from friend who was
engaged by distinguished author TO pro-
cure materials for a life Of Washington aud
who took it down verbatim from the mouth
of the old servitor himself who died some
years since in Jefferson County, servant Of
Miss Betty Whiting wish could tell
the story, as it was told to him, but that's
impossible. The servant, (whose name |
DO not recollcct, but Think it was Pcter)
said; he waited till night, put the mare to
the road, met the wagon, and returned
with the important articles before sun rise,
The mare was in lather Of perspiration,
and Peter in the stable rubbing her down
most diligently, Peter. goes on to say !
heard old mistress call out Peter how S
the mare this morning. "oh, beautiful
madam, she fairN shines" But added he,
elf she had coss5e TO tie stable to see, us
she sometimes did, should have got the
worth Of Massa Georges half joe and Q
itle m re-
This is simple domestic anecdotc, told
by an honest old servant, and yet is it not
illustrative Of that .flial honor which even
on such occasions Showed itself, in wish
to respect his mother feelings.
He was very remarkable for his sound
practical judgment Our country is in
dcbted to Washington, for initiating aud
suggesting some Of those great and impor-
tant Improvements, and valuable enterpri-
yes; which have been since bis death ear
ried out by others.
ln the 18th volume Of bis writings We
find him the first to sketch out the plan Of
surrendering the public lands to the United
States, and giving reasons, why the States
should not engage in land jobbing
In the same volume, we find him pa
tronising Rumsey's Boat which was the
first boat ever propelled BY steam; be went
to see the operation, gave him his certifi
cate and prophecicd its final success.
Tt is recorded fact, that he saw with
that practical prccience which was so re-
markable in him. that the connection Of tht
Atlantic cit les with the West, would be
made BY the Potomac and the James Rir-
ers, the only two on the Atlantic slope that
pierce the Alleghanies, and by the lakes from
ALBANY; he examines and criticiscs all three
Of these routes, and gives preference to the
Southern ones,--here we see, long before
NllutOu StdhSu us Itputhtioh ph ttt -Nth
York Canal, long before the James River
aud Ohio or Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
were begun, this wise man looked forward
half century anticipating these great i'm
provements. ..s4e a...s.. ~
He was modest man, cminently so.
When he was pu5lickly thanked ia tho
Virginia House Of Burgesses BY old spea-
ker Robinson, fer his gallantry in the
French war, and rose to return thanks for
the honor done him, be Numbered, stood
confused, and could not utter word. "sit
down Mr. Washington" was the consider
ate speech of the courteous old speaker.
"Sit down sir, your modesty equals your
valor, and that surpasses the power Of sny
language that | possess Another in-
starce OF this trait so beautiful concomi-
tant Of more lofty attributes, is in the fact
that although Col. Nichola was depnted BY
large body of distinguished officers about
the close of the revolution, in the dark
days of the confederacy. to offer to him
the kingly crown as the only means of Sc
curing stable government, and be in
dignantly refused it 50 stating that he
viewed it with abhorrence and must repre-
bend it with severity" that the commu-
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