The Kansas herald of freedom., 1859-12-17
MisceiiaQeops.
From tie Century.
The Youth of Washington.

From tie Century.
The Youth of Washington.
A year or two since, / paid visit to q
singular looking old building in the val
ley of Virginia, called "Greenway Court" /"
A hundred years ago, it was the residence
of Thomas, Sixth Earl of Fairfax, who
owned by royal grant the whole vast ter
ritory lying between the Rappahannock
and Potomac rivers, from Chesapeake
Bay to the Alleghanies. Lord Fairfax
was an eccentric old nobleman, and
"Greenway' is curious structure, with
its long verandah, its dormer windows,
and two belfries in which were once
placed bells, probably intended to sound
the alarm in case of an Indian attack.
But Fairfax would long ago have been
lost sight of by all save the diligent stu
dent of history, had it not been for sin
gle incident of his life. He happened to
make the acquaintance of Virginia boy,
whom he employed to survey his posses
sions, and in fact educated for the great
career he was to run. The name of this
boy was George Washington.
The odd old nobleman had been cru
ely disappointed in love affair in Eng
land. Weary with fashionable life, in
which he had shone as ''fine gentleman
of the first water, and soured by his ex-
perience of the fair sex, he emf grated to
his possessions in Virginia, and took up
his abode at "Belvoir," the country seat
of his cousin, Sir William Fairfax, on the
Potomac. Sir William had married one
of the Washington family who lived at
Mount Vernon, not far from Belvoir, and
this circumstance led to an acquaintance
between the Earl and young George
Washington. then sixteen years old. He
was well grown youth, of an athletic
frame, agreeable manners, and advanced
character for one of his age. The tradi-
ton is that at this time, he was, like the
Earl, disappointed in love, and longed
for some active employment. The two
persons shared the same tastes. Both
were extremely fond of the sports of the
field, especially of fox-hunting. Many a
time the nobleman and his youthful COM
panion dashed on, side by side, in their
pursuit of reynard; and when they were
not thus actively engaged, George sat by
the freside and listened to the converse
ton of the Earl, drinking in with deep
interest. anecdotes of Addison, Boiling
broke, Swift, and the great men of the
days of Queen Anne, with whom Lord
Fairfax had lived on terms of intimacy.
A strong friendship thus grew up between
the man of fifty and the boy of sixteen.
Fairfax soon discovered the youths
strength of character-hi resolution, pru-
dence, and reliability. The result was
that he proposed to young George the
task of surveying his lands beyond the
Blue Ridge. This proposition was at
once accepted. 1t jumped with the hu-
NOR of the boy, who longed for advent
ure, new scenes and regular employment.
His preparations were soon made, and in
the month of March, 174S, he set out
with a young relative of Fairfax for the
wild lands of the West. l have fire.
guently visited the scenes of his soiourn
in the valley; and 1 never behold them
without realizing as it were, the actual
presence of the ardent boy. I see him
crossing the Shenandoah, at what is now
Berry's Ferry in Ashby's Gap, and no
trait of his appearance is wanting. 1 see
the bright-faced youth with his curling
hair, his clear eyes, his erect form, and
firm lips. He carried his rifle, his instru-
ment, and knapsack strapped behind his
saddle-keeping sharp lookout for In
dians or other game;-and wended thus
his way towards "Lord Fairfax's," as he
calls it in his brief journal-that is the
old house of "Greenway," to which
have referred. After short sojourn here
where he laid down some surveys, and
admired the splendid trees, he proceeded
toward the Potomac. Ascending the
banks of that stream, he went up the
"South Branch" valley; and after sur
veying the region, returned to Greenway
Court. Here, after his various expedi-
tons, he seems to have met Lord Fairfax
who had removed west of the Blue Ridge
and taken up his residence in the wilder.
ness, never to return to England more
1t was wild life, and singular charac.
ter, which the young Washington now
lived and looked upon. Lord Fairfax
was true Nimrod. He had brought tc
the new world the English passion fol
hunting; and this taste he was now in 4
condition to crafty to any extent. The
mountains around Greenway Court wert
filed with bear, deer, elk, panthers, foxes
and every species of game-and to des.
troy these denizens of the woods, soor
became the regular employment of tn,
Earl. His surroundings were all pictur
esque and suggestive. He had assembled
a sort of backwoods court at his house il
the wilderness; and the man who haC
firted the fans of Duchesses, and walket
arm in arm with my Lord Bolingbroke
and the famous Mr.. Joseph Addison, o
London, now contented himself with tn,
society of frontiersmen, hunters, and trap
pers. All about the green in front OF hi
rude building, dogs gambolled or basket
in the sun tall hunters, with deerskil
garments and bucktails in their caps
might be seen leaning on their rifles, ant
arranging the sport for the morrow
in the midst of them, the young survey
or, Just from the Alleghanies, would re
late his adventures, or compare notes upo