The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-08-11
GEORGE WAsHINGTON's LEDGER.

| Something over a year ago Congress- pur-
chased from DangcrHeld Lewis, a connection
OF the Washington family, @ lot OF papers,
documents furniture etc, which had be-
| onged to George Washington, and these pre-
cious relics are now deposited in the Patent
Office at Washington. Among them is a
large ledger, wherein Washington set down
In his own Charge resolute hand, as Thacke-
ray deseribed his chirography, his daily ex-
penses and receipts during the period from
1772 to 17s9 With the exception Of a short In
terval during the revolutionary war.
| A correspondent of one of the st. Louis pa
pers has seen this ledger and made copious
extracts from it. The book possesses a pecll-
| liar value and interest from the insight it
gives Of Washington's private life and the
light It throws on the more obscure traits Of
his character. In this respect 1t Is worth all
the biographies of him that have ever been
written, and II is astonishing how completely
it serves to destroy the absurd misconception
81 his private character which had become
traditional. Any one who was at all familiar
with the social conditions which prevailed In
the Virginia colony, prior to the revolution,
must have known that the gallant Virginia
George Washington, was as different Il man
from the austere and puritanieal hero of Sun
day school literature, which he has been rep
resented to have been In order to make him
conform to New England notions Of moral
greatness, as it was possible for one man to
be from another. He was as far removed
from that typo OF men as was the loyal
Lee from one Of Cromwell's cantng round
heads, and we fancy, could the grand old
Virginia gentleman rise from his grave and
come to know the purely fictitious Father of
his Country" which New England has erea-
ted incomformity with her narrow moralties
and bequeathed to his countrymen as the
true conception of himself that he would re-
pndiate the ideal and vent his Indignation on
those who had dared to 50 traduce his memo
ry in explosives as vigorous as those he hurled
ut Charles Lee at nj u mouth.
When we reflect how little Is generally
known of the private life of Washington, it |
can hardly be matter Of establishment that
the popular conception of his personal charac-
ter is SO fallacious. Outside the Ratchet story, |
the account of his obedience to his mother
when she forbade him TO 60 to sea, and a few
other such unauthenticated traditions OF his
childhood but little has been vouehsafed the
world concerning him which is not matter of |
public history. It is for this reason that the
papers obtained from Dangertield Lewis are
possessed Of suchunusual value and interest
In the ledger to which we have referred.
which is in an excellent state of preservation,
are recorded all the cash receipts and expen-
ditnres Of Washington for the long period of
seventeen years, extending from 1772, four
years prior to the declarationof Independence,
until the date Of his Inauguration as Presi-
dent. Small items as well rs large are set
down, from u shillings by Landry, race
tickets, at Annapolis, to 1s5 pounds sterling
"By Messrs. Robert Adams x Co, for negroes
Anthony, London and Strephon.' The fol-
lowing leaf is given as a specimen: