Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1855-09-26

I Washing ton s earnest friends, and IN some
degree The founder of his fortunes, hi:
character and history are worthy of spe'
cial note. -
Lord Fairfax was now nearly sixty years
ofage, upwards fof six feet high, gaunt
and raw w-boned, near-sighted. with light
grey eyes, sharp features, and acquline
nose. However ungainly his present ap-
Pearance, he had figured to advantage in
London life in his younger days. He had
received his education at the university
of Oxford, where he acquitted himself with
credit. He afterwards held commission,
and remained for some time in regiment
of>horse called the Blues. His title and
connections of course gave him access to
the best society, in which he acquired
additional currency by contributing pa
per or two to Addison's Spectator, then
in great vogue.
In the heightof his fashionable career,
he became strongly attached to young
lady of-rank paid his addresses and was
accepted. The wedding day was fixed
the wedding dresses were provided to-
gether with servants and equipages for
the matrimonial establishment. Sudden
ly the lady broke her engagement. She
had beer, dazzled by the superior brilliancy
OF ducal coronet.
1t was cruel blow, alike to the affec-
ton and pride of Lord Fairfax and
wrought change in both character and
conduct. From. that time he almost
avoided the sex, and became shy and en-
barrassed in their society, excepting
among those with whom he was connec.
ted or particularly intimate. This may
have been among the reasons which ul-
timately induced him to abandon the gay
world. and bury himself in the wilds of
America. He made voyage to Virgi-
MIA about the year 1899. to visit his vast
estates there. These he inherited from
his mother, Catharine, daughter of Tho
mas, Lord Culpeper, to whom they had
been granted by Charles II. The origi-
nal grant was for all the lands lying be-
tween the Rappahannock and Potomac
rivers ; meaning thereby, it is said, mere.
ly the territory on the northern neck. east
of the Blue Ridge. His Lordship, how
ever, discovering that the Potomac head
ed in the Allegheny Mountains, return
ed to England and claimed correspondent
definition of his grant. 1t was arranged
by compromise extending his domain
into the Allegheny Mountains. and com.
prising, among other lands, great por-
ton of the Shenandoah Valley.
Lord Fairfax had been delighted with
his visit to Virginia. The amenity of
the climate, the magni6cence of the
forest scenery the abundance of game,
all pointed it out as favored land. He
was pleased, too, with the frank, cordial
character of the Virginians, and their
independent mode of life ; and returned
to it with the resolution of taking up his
abode there for the remainder of his days.
His early disappointment in love was the
cause of some eccentricities in his conduct;
yet he was amiable and courteous in his
manners, and of liberal and generous
spirit.
Another inmate of Belvoir at this time
was George William Fairfax, about twen-
ty-two years of age, the eldest son of the
proprietor. He had been educated in
England, and since his return had mar
ried daughter OF Colonel Carey, of
Hampton, on James River. He had re-
Gently brought home his bride and her
sister to his fathers house.
The merits of Washington were known
and appreciated by the Fairfax family
Though not quite sixteen years of age,
he no longer seemed boy, nor was he
treated as s4lch. Tall, athletic, and man.
ly for his years. his early seIf-training,
and the code of conduct he had devised,
gave gravity and decision to his con-
duct; his frankness and modesty inspired
cordial regard, and the melancholy, ot
which he speaks, may have produced a
softness in his manner calculated to win
favor in the ladies' eyes. According to
his own account, the female society by
which he was surrounded had a soothing
effect on that melancholy. The charms ot
Miss Carey, the sister Of the bride, seem
even to have caused slight futtering in
his bosom ; which, however, was con,
stantly rebuked by the remembrance o
his former passion-so at least we Judge
from letters to his youthful confdants
rough drafts of which we have seen in hi,
tell-tale journal.
To one whom he addresses as his dea,
friend Robin, he writes: "My residence
is at present at his lordship's, where
might, was my heart diseugaged, pass my
time very pleasantly, as there's very
agreeable young lady lives in the same
house Col. Geo. Fairfax's wife's sister ;;
but as that's only adding fuel to FIRE, i
makes me the more uneasy, for by offer
and unavoidably being IN company will
her, revives my former passion for YOU
Lowland Beauty; whereas was l to liv'
more retired from young women, l nigh
in Soma rooaSura alleviate NV sorr0wS
} by burying that chaste and troublesome
; passion in the grave of oblivion DC.
5 Similar avowals he makes to another o
his young correspondents. whom he styles
; '' Dear Friend John - as also to femal
confdant, styled q Dear Sally" to whom
} he acknowledges that the company of th