San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1879-12-27
DECEMBER

laid Dr.. Beattie under coutribu.
ton among others, and turned his gar
den story into the most preposterous
caricature. The father Of the boy, hs
tells us, desiring to startle George into
lively sense ofhis Maker, fell upon
the following very curious but OK.
pressive expedieut: "Ons day he
went into the garden aud prepared .
little bed of finely pulverised esrth, ON
which he, wrote Georges name in full
in large letters then strewiug in plsu-
ty Of cabbage seed, he covered them
up and smoothed all over nicely witha
roller. This bed he purpossly pre-
pared alongside Of q gooseberry walk,
which happening at the time to bewell
hung with ripeniug fruit, be knew
would be honored with Georges visits
pretty regularly, Not many mornings
had passed away before in came George
with his little cheeks ready to burst
with great news. "Oh | pa come here!
come here come here |" whats the
matter my sou2 what's the matter :"
"Oh come here; aud I will show you
such sight as you never saw in oil
your lifetime"
The old gentleman Of course proceeds
to the garden, where he discovers in
large letters the full name Of George
Washington, upon which the fa-
ther and son proceed to converse in
manner which would have made DR..
Beattie abhor himself for for having
recorded the incident. Mr.. Washing
ton pretended to pooh-pooh the start.
ing phenomena, but the boy would
not accept this mode Of treating II, aud
insisted upon knowing who made his
name.in the garden. 1T grew there by
chance, I suppose, my son." said the
father. This explanation being, We.
hemently rejected, long conversation
ensues, ending with the boys raptur-
GUS ackno nowledgemsnt Of first great
cause. George at length falls into .
profound silence, and his pensive
looks showed that his youthful soul
was laboring with the great idea.
Perhaps il was at that moment" adds
the imaginative Wcems, that the
germ of piety was engratted on his
heart which filled his after life with
such precious fruits" The fiction Of
the hstchet and the cherry tree is dec
corated with details equally absurd;
but they we're such as gave pleasure to
the simple childhood. Of past genera
tions, Tho comic paragraphist has
now appeared in the world. and this
story, once so edifyiug has fallen
before him as an easy prey. It was
tho peddler Weems, nevertheless
who created the traditional Washing.
ton, "the sunbeam in council and the
storm in war :" Washington, the
greatest of the great. in whose over
powcring presence no mortal could
stand unabashed; Washington whose
sublime serenity nothing was ever
known to disturb, ono Of those ma
jestic commanders who in no stress of
circumstances could ever use "a big,
big !" The lying little book had
the more weight with rustic readers Of
the earlier time from a fiction which
the author boldly placed upon his title
page, where he styles himself M. L.
Weems, formerly rector Of Mount
Vernon parish" 1t may be that the
term rector was not very accurately
defined in old Virginia, but at q later
day, as remarked above. the bishop of
Virginia regarded this claim to the rec.
torship as somewhat ridiculous. His
name" adds bishop Meade. never
sppears on the journals Of any Of our
conventions" UWeems ever officist.
ed at Mount Vernon. it must havo
been because there was no other
clergyman to perform the duty,