The Cairo bulletin. [volume] (Cairo, Ill.) 1872-1878, 1875-03-21
REPLY TO "HURT."
A. v. Proves Her Case.

of the sketch of Mary Washington. pub
lished in your last Sundays issue. car
ried With il its own condcr,v ,.. and
would not be entitled to any cOnsidera-
ton ifthe writer had not made so many
OF facts, well known to
every intelligent reader Of the history of
this country. The ignorance and bias
of Hurt" is well shown in this sentence:
"She ovcrlocs her work, and hunts, or |
fixes up. case TO suit her side Fixes |
up indeed. Any one familiar with our |
history, will recognize in my article a
plain and rery condensed statement OF well
authenticated facts.
Hurt says Mary Ball was surround
ed with wealth and had slaves, while
Augustine Washington was ofthe decayed
arstocracy. and was sensible In securing
Mary for helpmcct. The truth is, that
but little is known of Mrs. Washington's
family. other than that her father was
planter. aud that the Balls, like the
Washingtons, belonged to the nobility,
and that they too came TO America in
search ofgreater political liberty. and Sc
curity of life and property than could he
found In England during the turbulent
days of Charles I. aud the Protectorate.
think history fails to record
that Mary Ball had wealth or
slaves, and the natural inference
is to the contrary. Whereas, Sparks says
Augustine Washington, at his death, ION
the 18th OF April, l7i3, at the age OF
| forty nine. % " possessed q large
and valuable property in lands, &C.. and
as this had been acquired chiefly by his
own industry and enterprise, it mas be
Inferred that in the concerns of business
he was methodical, skillful honorable aud
energetic: each of his children
inherited from him separate plantation.
= 1t is thus seen, that Augustine
| Washington, although suddenly cut off
| in the vigor of manhood. left all his chill
drcn in state of comparative in1cpend-
encc. Coniiding in the prudence of the
mother. he directed that the proceed. Of
all the property of her children be at her
disposal till they should respectively c )me
of age"
Hurt" /, the only historian (:) who
ha. recorded that Mrs. Washington was
1.-THE naughty old loyali-t who did not
sympathize with the Revolution until it
became Il success"
Mrs. Washington was unquestionably
surrounded with an atmosphere of lib
erty, for we read that when the "Stamp
Act" was passed in Parliament, the first
outburst of Indignation in America was
by Patrick Henry, in the Virginia House
of Burgesses. of which George Washing
ton was and continued to be. a member
during all the years of war legislation
preceding the Revolution. 1t is well
known that Washington had the highest
regard for the opinions OF his mother
, aud that he always acted in harmon!
, with her.
lie wa delegate from Virginia to tn
: Colonial Assembly, which met in New
York in October, 1865, called the "Massa'
|
a delegate to the First Continental Con
gress. which was convened ut Philadel
phia, September, l77i, on which occasion
that enthusiastic and eloquent patriot
Patrick Henry. said of Washington, "tha
for solid information and sound iudg
ment he was unqucstionably the greatest
man on the floor"
+ He was also in the second Continental
Congress, which met in 1913. This body
after a month spent in deliberation, voted
TO raise an army Of twenty Thousand
men, and 10y unanimous voice elected
Washington Commander-in-Chiefo of al
forces raised. or TO be- raised, in defenc,
of American Liberties
lie accepted this responsibility. (Which
in the event of failurc would cause IN,
loss Of property aud life, upon the CON
dition that he would receive no compen'
sation for his services. but that his actual
expenses should be paid, viii Hurt
inform us at what date the Revolution
became a succcss-was it prior, or subse
quent to the bold stand taken by the SOL
of Mary Washington? Would so intel
ligcnt and Jealous n body ofmen, as com
posed Ibis Congress, have selected fol
Commander of the army which was &c
mauguratc the battles OF the American
Revolution. a loyalist, or the son OF a 10y
alist:
History mot Hurts says that
Mrs. Washington, during the war, would
not buy supplies from England
and that she even wore home-spun dresses
1t also states that she contributed during
the war to the support of the poor around
her. Many of these were the families OF
soldiers, Would woman of her charac
ter who had no sympathy with the war
have acted in this manner? Hurt" seem,
particularly displeascd with the isolation
IN which she lived. How this could hay,
been avoided in Il country where neigh
, b0rs are few and far between is not cleal
to my mind Hurts" assertion tha
such woman as Mary Washington
, "Would exert no influence for good II
these days" is most unjust aspersion OF
the character of the women of our dav.
large majority OF whom are not sufficient
~ advanced 10 be- incapable of appreciat
ing the true and noble.
Y II would indeed be blessing TO thi