Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1867-01-15
GEN. WASHINGTON At ROME,
W JAMES PAXTON.

straight as al arrow. lis form WAS wei
rroporiiened and evenly developed, SO that
he carried Ills tallness gracefully, and looked
strikingy well on horseback. There has
revcr been mere active, sinewy figure
ihan his when he vase young man It was
only in later l,is that his movements becsiae
Sow All! digniatd. Ills wife was pump,
pretty little woman, very sprightly and gay
IN hcr young days. and quite as iond oi
having her own way ~ ladies usually are.
She sstt!edvigwn;nio . good. plsins doses.
tic wife, Who looked sharply amer her serv>
ants, and was seldom seen without her knit
ting nsediss in full play. She wss fas from
being NO should now call, a eeoonied 70
man scarcely any u til 6d1oo q that
day knew much more than ~ ~ their
prayer. book and amanse, - kssp siople
aecodn>S. Nm. Washingion psvba1l9 nsser
read book through in - H. - = y
her spA1As-lcss said Of y - 49,.
Washington himself, bsebgo = toeane ,
public unt pas bad spelose. 49, wsse
npt so particular then ia - ao1eoss =
they ara .nox; and besides, thseoeoally was
RIO scttled system Of spelling . hundred
years ago. When the 0s0esal wrote for .
''rhsam of paper" beaver 'hatt," . suit
Of "cloathes, and pair Of "sattin" shoes,
there waS npq Webster unabridged 70 keep
peoples spelling within bonds. Nor was
lie much . reader of books. lie rad little
Of The history Of England now and shen,
and . paper from the Spectator occasionally
on rainy days, but he bed little literary
taste lie was essentially an out of-dooss
man, and few things were more disagreeable
to him than confinement at the desk. There
was nothing in his house which could be
called . library he had a few old fashioned
books. which be seldom disturbed and nevcs
read long .: atiine.
The General ard his wife lived happily
together, but II Is evident that, like moot
heiressss, she was . little exacting, and Il
Is highly probable that the great Washing-
ton was sometimes favored with . curtin
lecture. The oslcbrated authoruss, Miss
Bremen. is our authority fer this surprise.
She relates, thst . gentleoan once dept q
Mount Vernon in the room next TO that oc.
cupiesl b the master and mistress Of the
maaeion, aud when oil the inmates were Ia
bed. end the house was still, he overheard
through the thin partition, the voice Of
Mrs. Washington. lIe could not but listen.
and Il wse curtaise1octuss which she was
giving Der lord. lie had done something
during thS day which che thought ought 70
have been done differently, and she VA
giving her his opinion In somewhat anima
TED and lqqits decided tuass. The grsat
nan listened in silence till che haa done,
and then, without . remark upon the sub
jcct in hand, said:
Now, good slsep - Jun, nv dear"
What an example 10 husbands
When Washington WAS appointed to
ooumepd the Revolutionary armies, it is
plain from his letters home that one Of hia
greatest objections to accepting the appoint
mcnt was the ''uneasiness," Is no termed il,
that it would cause his wife 10 have him
absent from home.
General Washington was very rich man;
his wife was very rich, aud her thrce chil>
dren were heirs 10 great wealth. lie had
a little principality to govern. Besides the
farms about his own residence on the Po
,omac, with several hundred slaves upon
them, no possessed wild lands in most Ut
The best locations then known, 40 we'll a.
shares in several incorporated companies
lie derived an important part Of his influence
from the greatness Of his wealth and tho
antiquity Of his iamily-things which were
then held in much more respect than they
are now Washington's estate was not
worth more than threc>quArters Of a million
dollars hut it gave him far more personal
consequence in the coaairy than ten times
such a fortune could at present The rich
planter Of that day, living as he did on a
domain Of his own, the owner Of those who
served him, riding about in his coach and
six, and with no near noighbors TO restrain,
censnre, or outshine him, vas . kind OF
firmer-prlnce.
|, was fortunate for Washington that he
came to wea'ih " hen his character WAS ina.
,urr Being younger son, he had no cx>
pectstions OF wealth in his youth, and he
grew up in very hardy, sensible manner,
on an enormous fam. not . fourth part Of
which was. cultivated. His father dying
when no Vas eleven years old, he came di-
rectiy under the influence o, his mother.
who vas one OF the women Of whom people
say, There is no nonsense about her" She
was . plain, Mitsrale, energetic. strong.
willed lady, perfectly capable Of conducting
the affairs Of farm. and scorning the help
Of others. When she was advanced in
years, her son IN law offered to manage her
business for her
iou may keep tie accounts, Fielding
was her reply, for your eyesight is better
than miue, but can manage my affairs
myself"
On another occasion, Gen. Washington
asked her to come and live with him 1t
Noun, Vernon.
II thank you, George" said she, "but I
prefer being independent
Aud so to the last. she lived in her own
pi.in farm house, and superintendent the
culture of her own acres, not disdaining to
labor with her own hands When Lafayette
visited her he fout i her at work in the GAR
den, with her old sun>bonnet on, aud she
came in to sec him, saying:
II would not pay you 20 poor 4 compli-
snent, marquis, ~ to stay to change my
dress"
have Oft n thought that she must have
iesembled Betsey Trotwood, 40 drawn BY
Charles Dickens in David Capperiield, and
as found in many country homes both in
Old England end New, honest, strict, euss
gc,'c woaen, . little rough 10 their manners,
but capable OF sn.inent generosity when
there 10 occasion 6sr il hsing the son Of
such woman, and trained by her in sim.
pie, rational manner. George Washington
Vas prepared to enjoy the lot thai cell 10
him. without being spoiled by Il.
With al his wealth he Was not exempt
from labor. Cultivating . large tract Of
country, he speae much Of bic time 10 riding
about to visit the different farms, to consult
his oversecrs and superintend his improve
ments. 1t 10 computed that he spent ahsut
one half Of the days Of his life on horseback.
Like ell out-ofdoor men, he Was exceeding
" fond Of = good hosse-a taste which ne
had in common with his mother, who Vas
eaia % Be - eoea judes Of hessse - any
man in Virginia Nothing was more com.
mon than for him TO mount his herss aieer
breakfast and ride sll day, only dismountine
for few minutes q time.
90 those great plantatioas, las from the
large towns. and worked by negroes, the
mastce WAS sftsn obliged psssonally to gu
periutend any operation which vas out of
the ordinary routine. No doubt when Gen.
Washington entered In HE diary, ''bottled
thirtytive dozen Cider" the hand with
which be wrote The words etill smelt Of the
liquid. We tind in-his diary many such en-
terics A. those.
Spent tlse greater part 81 the day in MAX
ing new pillow Of my own invention"
Peter (ny SMITH and l, after several ef-
forts to make pillow after new model part
" ofmy own continuing, were fain to give il
over. at least for the present"
al -