The Kansas herald of freedom., 1859-12-17

Inc anecdotes WHICH Ieualu Vi AOIu
Fairfax are interesting, and some of them
amusing. He is said to have had passion
for boarding British gold, and to have
preserved something of the state of Eng
land, even in the wilderness. He had
his London chariot, his rich velvet dress
of ceremony, and his Yorkshire servants.
One of these was a great favorite with
him, and would assist him in the follow
ing trick on his brother huntsmen: They
would start fox, and while every one was
running reynard, the Earl, advised by his
body servant of the habits of the game,
would ride round to the spot where the
fox would double to, be in at the death,
and hold up the tail in triumph, when
the less fortunate part of the company
came in on their jaded horses. On these.
hunts, 1t is certain that young Washing
ton accompanied his friend, as he had
done at Belvoir; and their early intima-
cy was still further cemented.
The result of the youths expeditions
into the wild woods of the West and of
the hardships which he endured, was a
toughness of body and of mind, which
very early made him equal to any emer-
gency or responsibility. The society of
Lord Fairfax had first expanded and cul-
tivated his mental powers-and the re-
sponsible tasks entrusted to him by the
Earl ripened him, so to speak, all at once
into strong man. But there were other
results still more important. These years
laid the foundation of Washington's
whole career. When the French war
came, soon afterwards, the first person
who was thought of to be sent on this
dangerous expedition through the wilder
ness, was young Mr.. Washington. Brad
dock required an experienced aid-the
young man was selected. Then the Vir-
ginia frontier was exposed to the savages.
Col. Washington, at twenty-three, was
entrusted with the entire responsibility of
guarding the border. Stationed at Win
chester, where, with blacksmiths from
Mount Vernon he had himself construct
ed old Fort Loudon, he bore for months
upon his youthful shoulders the awful
burden of the public safety. His letters
to Governor Dinwiddie, at this period,
are noble memorials of his great soul, and
deeply affecting. All was in confusion.
The settlers, at every alarm, were flying
to Winchester, and thence East. Every
one looked to the young Colonel, and to
him alone. He wrote that if he knew
his own heart, he would pour out the last
drop of his blood to protect these poor
families, whose sufferings filled him with
deadly anguish. That long agony tried
to the utmost all the strength of his he
roic spirit. When he had come forth
from the furnace, he was hardened for
ever. Thenceforth no human trial could
break down his constancy. He was fitted
for the grand career which he was to
run-for the suferings of Valley Forge
the ingratitude of his own officers; the
murmurs, complaints, misconceptions, and
hostilities of ALL Nothing could move
him. AS the honorable fame he acquired
in these early days secured for him in
June, 1775, the appointment of General
in Chief of the armies of North America,
so the terrible responsibility. the care,
the suspense, the agony of his trials, made
him superior to all other tests.
Such was the part which the English
nobleman had in the career of the Amer
lean man of the people The old Earl
made this comparison, after Yorktown:
"An English nobel" he exclaimed, ito
be beaten by Virginia buckskin!" He
was eighty-two years old when Cornwall
lis surrendered; and as soon as he heard
the news, said to his body-servant, "Take
me to bed, Joe; it is time for me to die!"
It was truly the end of the old world in
which he had witnessed so many splen-
did scenes. The youth whom he had
adopted as it were, and fitted for the con-
test, was the conqueror of the first gene
raj of England.
Greenway Court still stands venera-
Bile landmark of the Past. You lean on
the worm eaten railing, and think that
the boy George Washington once rested
upon it the weary arms which in after
years were to sustain the fainting hopes
of great nation. There are two figures,
plain, even to-day, on the old lawn.-
They are the smiling and unknown boy,
and the aged nobleman blindly training
the great gladiator who was to lead the
future, and inaugurate new order of
affairs in the history of continent.
JNO. ESTEN COOKE.