M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1855-07-06
WASHINGTONs LOVE Az.
?. al..i FAIRS.
From rrvrso's LIFE OF wAsHlsoroy

FROM iRvIEG's LIFE or wAsHISGroN
In one orthese manuscript memoria
Of his practical studies and exercise
we have come upon some document
: singularly in contrast with all that W
have Just cited and with his appareu
: -unromantic character. In a ord. thef
D are evidences in his own handwri;in
I that, before he was fifteen years of age
3 he had conceived a passion for som
unknown beauty. so serious as to dis
= tnrb his otherwise we'll regulated mint
: ond TO make him really unhappy. VIII,
, this juvenile attachment was sourc
Of unhappines we have no positive
means Of ascertaining. Perhaps III,
object of it may have considefed hin
mere schoolsboy and treated him a,
such :; or his own shyness might have
been in his way, and his "rules for be.
havior and conversation" may as yet
have sat awkwafdlY on him aud render.
ed him formal and ungainly when he
most sought to please. Even in later
Jears he was apt to be silent and EN-.
barrassed in female society. "He was
a very bashful young man." said an old
lady whom he nsed TO visit when they
were both in their homage. al used Of,
ten to wish that he would talk more" !"
Whatever may have bee1 the. reason,
this early attachment seems to have
been source of poignant discomfort TO
him. l; cluhg to him after he took
final leave Of school in the autumn Of
!747, aud went to reside with his brot.
her Lawrence at Mount Vernon Here
he continued his mathematical studies
and his practice in surveying, disturbed
at times by occurrences Of his unlucky
passion. Though by no means Of
poetical temperament, the waste pages
Of his journal betray several attempts
to pour forth his amorous sorrows in
verse. They are mere common place
rhymes, such as lovers at his age are
apt 10 write, in which he bewsils his
E"poor restless hsart wounded by Cup.
ids dart" and bleeding for one who
remains pitiless of his griefs and woes.
The tenor Of some of his verses in.
duces us to believe that he never told
his love but as we have already sur.
missed, was prevented by his bashful-
ness,
"Ah, woe is me, that | should love
'rN. .- and conceal;
Long have wished, aud never dare
1t is difficult to reconcile ones self
to the idea of the cool and sejate Was
hiLgtou, the great champion OF Ameri.
can liberty, hose worn lover in his
Youthful days, sighing like furnace
and inditing plaintive verses about the
groves Of Mount Vernon. We are glad
Of an opportunity, however, of pene'
tratein g TO his native feelings, and find.
ing that under his steady decorum and
reserve he had heart of flesh, throb
bing with warm impulse Of humo n na.
ture.
The merits ofWashington were known
and appreciated by the Fairfax family.
Though not quite sixteen years of age
The no longer seemed boy. nor was he
treated as such. Tall, athletic and
manly for his years, his early self train
ing and the code, Of conduct he had
devised gave gravity and decision to
his conduct; his frankness and modesty
inspired cordial regard, and the melan-
choly of which he speaks may have
produced a softness in his manner ca!1
lculated TO win favor in ladies eyes,
According to his own account, the fe-
male society by which he was surroun
ded had soothing effect on that me.
laneholy. The charms OF Miss Cary
the sister of the bride, seem TO have
caused slight futtering in his bosom
which, however, was constantly rebu'
liked BIZ the remembrance Of his former
passion--so at least we judge from let
ters to ais youtful conidents, rough
drafts of which are still to De seen in
his tell tale journal.
To one whom he addresses as his
dear friend Robin. he writes. "My
residence is I present al his Lordship's,
where might, was my heart disenga
Eged, pass my time pleasantly, as there's
a very agreeable young Lady lives in The
sa me house (Col. George Eairfax's wi
fe's sistef) but as that's only adding
fuel to fire,it makes me the more unea
sy. for by often and unavoidibly being
lin company with her reviyes nv former
passion for your Lowland Beauty; whe-
reas, was to five more retired from
young women, might in some measure
alleviate my sorrows by burying that
chasie' and troublesome passion in the
grave of oblivion, &c.
Similar ayowals he mases to another
of his young correspondents, whom he
STYLES .'Dear friend John" as also fe-
male confident, styled Dear Sally" to
whom he acknowledges that the com
pany of the very agreeable young lady,
lsister>in-law of Colonel George Fair
lax, in a great measure cheers his sor-
Tow and dejectedness. The object Of his
learly passion is not positively known.
4 Tradition states that the lowland beauty
! was a Miss Grimes Of Westmoteland,
afterwards, Mrs. Lee. and the mother
of General Henry Lee. who 6gured in
revolutionary history as Light Horse
j Harry and was alwaysa fayorite with
| [Wsshington. probabIs from the recol-
Ilections of his early tenderness for :he
mothei,.,, ,, T.. .a.f M 81.
| Whatever ma have been the sooth'
ing effect of the female society by which
~ Ymas st1rtnnntleh at BelXoiri the youth