Monongalia mirror. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1855, 1854-12-02

youuS inuii, 'dyinS mo hahu apoh "'9
fathers tomb: ~ vow by these sacred
ashes, never to fight beneath the Brit
ish flag" ra
The widow embraced her son, and
charged him 10 preserve his fathers let
ters to the latest day of his existence. q
Next day, as the English noblemen
was aboutto embark, his young friend
Joined him on the shore. DH,
"Well, you are coming to join me y
said the former, with that frank kind
ness for which he was distinguished.
"No-I remain here" replied the
young American, but we shall one day
meet again. .,.s.. ,,ti,
And they did meet again, in l7S1,
under the walls Of Yorktown-the one
in command of the whole English ar.
my, and the other at the head Of the
American troops. They met at that
critical moment which wrested from
Great Britain, her overgrown trans.At.
lanlic colonies and established on firm
basis the independence of the United
States. .l H-g g#s.irar tN
The elder Of the two was Lord Corn.
wallis-tke younger George Washing
ton.
Having renounced the thought Of en-.
tering the English navy, Washington
resumed these mathematical studies
which had hitherto been his chief de-
light, and turned his attention more es-
pecially to farming and agriculture.
When hostilities commenced with the
mother country, he quilted the plough
for the. sword, and was placed at the
age of nineteen, at the, head Of the Vir,
ginia militia, He rose rapidly from
one step to another, until he was ap-
pointed general Of the whole American
army, and became the leader of the eel.
ebrated eight years. war. His unalter.
able frmness and calm, good sense car:
ried him through all the complicated
difficulties lie had 10 encounter from un.
disciplined soldiers, and nation still
in the infancy of civilization.
Oh the goth of January, 1888; the
treaty of Versailles proclaimed, in the
face Of. the underworld, the independ-
encs of the United States of America.
Then was Washington receivsd'in ytri..
umph everywhere; and the victorious
general, feeling that his warlike career
was terminated. bid farewell to bis ar
my, and laying down his swerl, returns
ed once more. to cultivate his favoritel
estate Of Mount Vernon, on the river
Potomac. ..g,a.aa.
His mother now advanced in the vale
Of years, stood awaiting her noble healt-
cd son when he returned to his home,
and folded to her heart the lihe,ator
whom she had given TO America, and
whom America now restored to her, Ia.
den with glory and with honoEs. aa
George Washington againoresumed
the spade and the plough, and triumph
ed over nature in the will-and unculti-
vatcd plains of the New World, even
as hc had triumphed over the enemy in
the battlefield. IA slt-'ig
He organized the great company Of
Ciucinnatus. which brought u vast ex.
tent of land under cultivation, and mu.
tiplied the riches of the United States.
Many of tho officers and soldiers who
had served under him in f',rmer days
enrolled themselves under his orders III
this new campaign.
We need not dwell on his political
life, which was marked by. the same
straight forward sihgle-minledness and
good sense that distinguished every 9TH
er step of bis career. After having
been, ON two different occasions, unan.
imously elected President Of the Repub-
lie, he, in,l797, refused the Office, and
retired detini'ively into priya,elife,
On the 5th of December, 1899, Wash.
in the sixty-eighth year of
his age, and still enjoying that full yig.
or both Of body aud mind which, had
been his portion through life, was en-
gagged in experimenting some improve;
mont which he was carrying on in a
distant part of the grounds Of Mount
Vernon. A heavy shower of rain came
on, aud having remained for some time
in his vet clothes, he complained in the
evening Of slight sore throat. Auin-
tamation of the ,rachea rapidly ensued,
and in iine days he was dying thai,-
His last thoughts were devoted 10 his
coun,ry's welfare, and then calmly, and
as if he were only about to retire to
rest after day Of toll, he embraced his
wife and bid farewell TO those around
him, and having commended his soul to
God, he quietly brealhed his last.
The two letters whichliad been com.
milted TO him by his widowed mother,
fifty years before, as they stood toge,h.
er by his (a,he,'s tomb, were found, az
ter his, death, folded carefully, like q
talisman, nearest to his heart.
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,posedit OH the ground that il could NOT