The weekly Ottumwa courier., 1858-12-09
Washington "a q Farmer.

a. .EFgs
The following extracts from s:Irvng Life
Of WtsHIsGros,"' showing his.love for com
try life, and his habits as farmer. will interest
our readers, it they love thei farms as Le did
his veg Tto -"
= IN his letter from Mount Vernon, he writes:
Z" am dow, believe, fixed int his, seat, and
hopto find more happiness 10 retirement than
over experienced III the wide and bustlng
worid." y" ss'f5 aS' aa'f'F .'''A
This was deliberate purpose with him-the.
result of enduring inclinations. Throughout
the whole course OF is career, agricultural
life appears to have been his bean IDEAL Of ex-
istcnee, which haunted his thoughts, even
amid the stern duties OF the field, and TO which
he recurred with inf aging interest, whenev-
er enabled 10 indulge his natural bias. Mount
Vernon was his harbor Of repose where he re-
peatedly furlet his sail, and fancied himself
anchored for life. No impulse of ambition
tempted him thence; nothing but the call Of
country, and his devotion to the public good.
The place was endeared to him by the remen-,
brance OF his brother, aud Of the happy days
he had passed here with that brother in the
days Of hts boyhood :but it was delightful
fplace In itself, and we'll calculated to Inspire
rural feelings.
The mansion was beautifully situated on a
swelling height, crowned with wood, and
commanded a mag nifcent view up and down
The Potomac. Tie grounds Immediately abou.
awefeiaid out somewhat in the English taste.
The estate was aprortioned into seperate farms,
devoted to different kinds Of culture. Much
however, was still covered with wild ". ods
and ind Tented with inlets, hadnts Of deer and
lurking -pfaces Of foxes. "No estate in United
America,' observes lie IN one OF bis letters, is
more pleasantly situated. In high aud
healthy country, in a latitude between the ex-
iremes Of heat and cold; on one oe the finest
! rivers in the world---a river well stocked with
various kinds OK fish at all seasons of the year,
and in the Spring with shad, herring, bass ,
| carp, sturgeon, etc, in great abundance. ~ The
borders of the estate are washed by more than
tsn miles Of tide-water; the, whole shore, in
fact, is one entire fishery.o =. II. ss,.s
WASHINGTON carried into his rural affairs
the same method. activity, and ci-cumspection
that had distinguished him in military life
He kept bis own accounts, posted ,uphis books,
and balanced them with mercantile exartness.
The products of his, estate, also, became so
no:ed for the faithfulaess, as to quality and
quantity, with which they were pat up, tha,
| it is said any barrel OF flour that bore the brand
Of GEORGE WAslNGHroN, Mount Vernon, was
exempt from the customary Inspection in the
West India ports. =. ....;f...s a.. -. :
| ,Hewas an early riser-often before day.
break in the winter, when the lights were long
On such occasions he lit his own fire, and
wrote and read by candle-light. n He dreakfas.
tied at seaven in Summer, and at eight in Win.
ter. Two small cups Of tea and three or four
oakes of Indian meal, [called hoe-cakes,
Formed his frugal repast. Immediately after
ibreakfast he mounted his horse, and Wis
iited those parts Of his estate, where, al,
work was going on, seeing to everything with
his own eyes, and often aiding with his own
hand. Dinner was served at two. He at,
heartily, but was no epicure, nor critical abou
u. rs -. -
his food. His beverage was small beer oil
cider, and two glasses OF old Madeira. He
took. tea, Of which he was very fond, early in
the evening, and retired for the night abou
nine O'clock.
! We find him working for part Of two day
with Peter, his smith, to make a plough on
inew invention. This, after two or three fail
lures, he accomplished. Then, with les, than
his usual judgement, he put his two chariot
horses to the plough, and run risk of spoil
ing them in giving bis new invention a trial
over ground thickly swarded. Anon, during
a thunderstorm, a frightened negro alarms tn,
house, with word that the mill is giving way,
upon which there is general turn out Of al
the forces, with WAsHISGroS at their head,
wheeling aud shoveling gravel, during peltin:
rain, to stop the rushing water.