Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1874-06-11
THE MOTHER OF WASHINGTON.

THE MOTHER or WASHINGTON.
How Lover ~ Her Grand. uDnwgl,scr IL.
~" " Monument 10 Her Memory, wIiic
@'''''c t'""xr"~.'"c" Pr"r"-c 20 Fisi-''.
The following bit of humorous story
telling il from Grace Greenwood to til,
New York Times:
Yet whilo these Economics ar,
irantlcnlly protesting against expend
ing few hundred thousand to phi
tho Washington Monument in
decent condition for tho centennial
that grand golden wedding Of libcrt,
and dcmocracy-othcr Congressman
are demanding that an appropriation
shall be made for the purpose OF com
plotting tho monument to Mary, tho
mother OF Washington, at Frolcricks
burg. There is q romantic interest
about tho unfinished, neglected pile OF
Berkshire marble as it stands. Some
forty years ago
There was rich merchant IN Gotham did dwell,
which his name was Barrons-Silas E.,
and it came to pass that no fell NOR.
tally ip love with Miss Gusts, and il
Ordor t0roels4hsu Ills sui and Erntl1,
the young lady's grand-filial piety, he
commenced the erection of this monu.
ment to Mary, the mother Of Washing.
ton, which was to have cost $50, 900.
President jackson went from Washing.
ton to lay the cornerstone, and had his
n"so pulled ON the way by one Lieut..
Randolph, which was bad omcn-and
before the year was out, / believe Miss
GUSTS grew tired Of her northern lover
and rejected him, with the job still on
his hands. If she only could have
held ON till tho thing was finished
It seems the rich merchants love was
not of that sort to sit "like Patience on
a monument, smiling ut grief" He
Immediately turned his back on the
young lady, went back on her great nm
cestrcss, Mary, the mother of Washing
ton abandoning his pious and patriot
ic undertaking forever.
A few days ago the Congressional
committee appointed to enquire into
the feasibility of finishing the monu-
mcnt to Mary, the mother of Washing
ton, at Fredericksburg, Va" took m
excursion by boat and rail to the NOM
orablo old town. They had a good
timc-were Hospitality lunched, and
wincd, and "toted" about wcpt at the
tomb of tho grandmother Of their
country, and at the hotel were rung in
to banquet, by her identical old ia
ble-bcll. They proposed toasts, and
made speeches to her honor, and drank
long to her blessed memory. Hon.
Horace Maynard, in his speech, peril
nently asked What is there in the
name of Mary, tho mother OF Washing
ton, that sho should bring congress to
her grave? She was not a poetcss, not
a letter-writor, not novelist" Now,
I was not aware that Congress was
in tho habit Of visiting, in q body, or by
squads, tho tombs Of literary women.
We are poor, sinful creatures, especially
Washington letter. writer's, but do we
quite deserve that? No, Mary, the moth
er Of Washington was not ga letter
writer" to any extent. I once had the
privilege of porusing a little epistle
penncd that illnstrious matron. It was
marked by stern brevity, a bravo disre-
gard of the rules of photography and q to-
tai freedom from the awful respect with
which We regard her son, George. BY
the way, distinguished Bohemian, who
some years ago visited fredericksburg,
and prowlcd about the sacred Washing
ton precincts, tells me that the tradition
said that Mrs. Bushrod Washington was
q regular Spartan mother. The Oldest
inhabitant told him that his father told
linn that his grandfather said she one
evening suddenly appeared in the bar
room of the old Fredericksburg tavern in
search of her illustrious son, then
about seventeen years old, and finding
him where she had positively forbidden
him to come, listening with open mouth
to the talk of travellers and village
loungcrs, she drew a horscwhip from
under her cloak, and laid it over his
anointed head and broad shoulders, and
SO qnickened his footsteps home con-
sitlerab]y.- Doubtless she did right
that was the good old way to train and
tougher herocs-but times and man.
ners have changed in the Republic
since then. Now mothers of good FAM
lily are poorer disciplinarians, but bet
ter grammarians-they use tho rod less,
and the pen more-hcnce the failure
in the supply of good boys and great
mon. If, for instance, Mr.. Maynard had
naO IOrn1s maternal parent SUCH WOm-
an rs Mary, the mother of Washington,
"quict domestic habits" poor spelling,
and all, then the history Of
his childhood might have rivaled in
some record of immortal mischief and
virtuons truth-telling the cllerry-tree
and Ratchet story-then he might also
have been General, pcrchance Pres
ident, second in war, in peace, and in
the hearts of his countrymen-a sort of
step Patcr I'at,ia. There is every
THING in q mother