The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-07-16
.,.,,sn, rssesrtss OF Essex county.
IIsor Tire Richnl ond UisIaNsc,Dl'..i j

cr3fCEiV tSi4
ho,i converse with q Sir Viiliam Berke.
10 Knight. and Governor OF irglnia,o
cna discuss many OF his deeds ana mis>
das,,s fonf II, the flesh, but In the LSFIhk)
tbas vs find recorded sill through THIS mussy
49,, or must we dwell on the dolngs Oh
,haa member OF his General Court - az :
a James City, not unknown TO lame, anu
ruSnsa character has been so mucn DISCUS
cod Nathaniel Bacon Or shall we take up
,he irayed ends OF that attenuated ana
thrasIbare subject "the Washington iain-
;iys; and lend you through a labyrinth
fr,m the first 81 the Washingtous, whose
wills ere spread out before us, dated 1877,
down TO the DAYS OF the Pdter Pdsr'1 MN
snli Speaking OF wills, the recorded wills
of fine old fellows In the seventeenth CEN
tury contained, nearly all OF them, q con-
densed creed Of sound protestant faith. an
epitome of belief In the Trinity, the doc
trine OF the atonement, and OF the resur-
rectiou from the dead. They lead one 10
the conviction that there were either some
aarnent believers in those days or some oitne
most daring OF hypocrites, who yentured 70
employ the strongest and most Vigorously.
solemn words in the Immediate presence vi
the king OF terrors himself. There is' now.
ever, a great difference in this respect, anu IL
is impossible to believe that all OF suc y
solemn declarations were simply Inade IN
conformity with the usage OF the age 40
which they were written. Ihelr PTdctsce
may have been bad, but there htst nave
been strong religious sentiment pfeYairhle
IN that day. For example, il is hard to be-
lieye that the glowing words quoted from
the viii on the page Just above US could
come from the pen OF a mere Journalist !;
{. First regard the goods I am about to
haoueatbe as having been placed by the
T,nr,l God In trust with me, His hum
HE serysnt, and that ] am to account
to Bin for nv manner OF dispensing
Their, after my, body has returned to
the dust from whence it came. Deiieve
in God the Father, God the Son, God the
EoIy Ghost Trinity in unity, unity In
trinity. blessed forever! have a frm trust
in God INV Saviour, through whose precious
blood alone all my sins will be washed away.
And / expect through, his mediation to rise
sople and body in the general resurrection
at Che last day. And in the will OF Law
renee Washington, written on the 23d OF
september, 1876, is the following: trust
and beaueathe my soule into the hands OF
Almighty God, hoping and trusting through
the merits Of Jesus Christ, my one Saviour
and Redeemer, to receive full pardon and
forgiveness OF all my SINS" By the way,
this Lawrence Washington and his brother
John were the two brothers living on the
north side OF the Rappabannock, and the first
who settled in the countries from whom all
the others sprang. Lawrence lived not far
from the Rappahannock, and in what was
called Setting bourne parish, in Rappahan-
mock county-at least, we infer this from
his will being on its records. John lived
within ten miles OF Lawrence, near the Po-
tomac, and in WestmorelaBd county. They
both came trom England about the year
1859, and left property there, real and per-
sonai, mentioned in their respective wills.
There seems to have been singular co1ncl-
dence between the history OF these brothers
in life and death, and the tenderest sympa-
thy and affection. They were both widow
ers when they left England, Lawrence leav-
ing an only daugh teri (Mary) there, They
married again, John. having three children
fJehn, Ann, and lawrence and bis brother
Lawrence only two by; his Virginia wife
fJohn and ANN Tbe" wills OF the Two
were written in the same year-John's
ins.. February. and LaWrence's. IN Sep
TENDER, 1676-and boil. recorded IN June,
1877. It Is probable. from the TACT
OF the two wills having been written WITHIN
SO short an interval, and each OF the pro-
theirs selecting the other in connection With
the execution Of their respective wills, that
they died nearly at the same time, and WIN.
out the knowledge OF the other. Ineli
wills are entered on the books and admitted
r., probate in the most erudite style OF law
Latin: Lawrence leaves his wife Jane rs bis
exeeutrix. and /. his verydear and loving bro
ther john and ss his loving friend Thomas
Hawkins'' as the tsoverseers and guardians
OF INV chiIdren.o Colonel John Washing
tom leaves g his dear and loving brother
Lawrence ., as the executor OF his will. Il.
AZ we have dwelt somewhat OH the feryid
style OF religious profession contained IN
the wills OF that day, before LEAVING: tne
subject we win quote from Bishop Meade'e
book clause in Colonel John Washing
tors will. breathing, even more emphatt.
cally the evangelical spirit than that eYlnceo
by his g lowing brother Lawrence VIZ,
.sFirst. being heartily sorry for all my sins
from tf,e bottom OF my heart, most humbly
praying for their forgiveness from Almighty
iIod, nv Saviour and Redeerner, in whom
and by the merits OF Jesus Christ / believe
assuredly to be saved and to have full re-
mission and forgiveness of all my sins, and
that nv soul, with my body, at the. general
resurrection shall arise again with JOY, 81.
Your readers need nos be reminded that
tsis Colonel John Washington was the
ereat:rrandfath of General Washington,
and that the Lawrence Washingt IN, whose
Will is now before us, was consequently his
greats great uncle. Many persons who clai :,
descent from these Washing tons eonfouna
the descent from Lawrence with That from
John, the ancestor In Che direct line or
George Washington. ....sd.1.' .s.@:si
Bt,t~We are done with the Washington
family, glorious az as its record, for there are
some irreyerent GROWERS nowadays who
express the hereticaf opinion that II would
have been better had or arlcestors consent-
ed To endure the soYe rbearibg arrogance OF
old John Bull rather than besubie cted after
wards TO the insolent tyranny OF his mean.
spirited and fanaticaF. z. Brother Jonathan.ns
To return to Sir William Berkely: ne
evidently regarded himself pioll soui,
though there are some. things IN nis history
which seemed to show that ne was n 10
always under the influence OF the law OF
love he commences his deeds with
the CAPTION: IS ], Sir William Berkely,
Knight, Captain General, and Governor
OF Virginia, send greeting in the name
Of our Lord God everlasting y These
deeds conveying public lands to various
persons for bringing emigrants into the
Colony, or for other services, are continued
up TO the time Of the reY0iu In 1858. We
mentioned In onr frat communicates the
curious evidences of the remains of
indian power In the land mp to 1850,
and the efforts made by etss eye Wor-
shipfnl Court OF Kappahannock conn-
ty 2 70 prop tiate them by. q picus system Of
hunlbug md deeept ion--such as allowing
The: Indian King and his great men TO sfts ON.