Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1883-03-21

never sworc except on that hot day at
Monmouth, when he was betrayed by
subordinate. The oDe-horse shay,
made immortal In flowing verses by
Oliver Windell Holmes. was hardly
more honestly and skilfully construct
cd than the family carriage Of George
Washington. Fifteen years after
Washlngton's death IL became the
property of Bishop Meade, then a
young preacher. Long unused be-
cause ofits weight and proportions, ~
the Bishop tells, IL began to decay. II
became an object of interest 10 relic
hunters, and was given away piece
by piece to the Bishops friends or
sold at fairs for benevolent purposes.
In lS47, Bishop Moade, then grow
ing old, was accustomed, when visited
by his friends and chosen compatriots
of the dlden time. TO induct them to
seats In his study, made Of those once
used by George Washington and his
wife In the old family couch. The
publication of these facts may induce
some correspondent to tell what be-
came of this relic, and the history of
/ the carriage exhibited ut Philadelphia
| in 1876 as the family carriage of
| Washington We should not forget
to tell that each Sunday morning ut
Pohick first, and later at old Christ
church, when the Washington coach
was drawn up before the door, that
clodhoppers stood around with heads
barred to do humble obeisance. The
gentry of the neighborhood, advance
ing in turn in silk hose knee brooches.
long-waisted coats, and cooked hats,
bent revercntly in the presence of the
matchless patriot of his own or any
age or country
wAsHINGToN AND LEE.
IL is a singular fact that after hear
ing sermons and prayers and dclibera-
ting in the very sanctuary of the Most
High, two great leaders of two great
armies and two immortal heroes each
announ ced for the first time bis pur-
pose to serve the cause he espoused at
the doorway of old Christ Church in
Alexandria. When war with England
was already inevitable Washington
was known to prefer his friend Bryan
Fairfax as Il candidate for the house of
delegates to Colonel Broad water a
rebel, Fairfax being n confessed tory.
Patrick Henry had uttered his mar
velous harangues and Washington was
still silent. Standing in front of the
church in Alexandria, many OF his
friends and neighbors about him, he
said that he would fight England and
lead, if required, in such conflict the
armies Of Virginia. This WAS in 1910.
Eighty-five years later, II. Il. Lee, in
the spring, even in May, 1861, sat in the
pew OF his fathers, separated by the aisle
from that of Washington. When the
congregation went out, Lee, standing
in front of the church To be greeted by
his friends and neighbors, announced,
for the first time, bis purpose to serve
the "Old Dominion rather than the
Union. Lee may have remembered ut
the time the story told of Washington.
But such are the facts us given by ira
dition in the one case and by living
witnesses in the other.
Some Plutarch may make the story
the basis of rhetorical paralelism
between the lives and deeds and fame
of those two greatest men that have
illustrated the force and intensity of
local patriotism. Lee had not ap-
proved secession, and only loved a
state more than he loved all the states
and Washington only proposed to
lea q the army of Virginia against the
mother country.
ANOTHER ASPECT or WASHINGTON's
CHARACTER.
The school system of Alexandria is
old and admirable. 1t was in success
full operation even before the old revo-
luton. Washington and his
local associates were active
supporters Of the scheme
| OF beneiicence. In the apartment Of
Mr. Carne, superintendent, there is an
Old manuscript book containing Wash
ington's letter to the trustees of the free
| schools of Alexandria, in which he
| tells that his immediate resources will
not admit of the payment of one thous-
and pounds which shall constitute his
| bequest To the school, but that the
trustees can draw on him annually for
the interest on the sum, He STIMULATES.
however, TINT the interest alone shall
be used and the principal held intact
forever. lie further insists that the
product OF the fund shall be expended
only IN teaching reading, writing and
arithmetic With this he thought
me debt OF the public to the youths
oil the land eN inguished. The Thousand
pounds, as provided i'm Washington's
VIII, were invested in the stock of the
Bank OF Alexandria, then deemed the
safest ana best possible security.
When Andrew jackson removed tile
deposits and destroyed the national
bank, he made this institution at
Alexandria one of the repositories of
government funds. Its managers he
came politicians they sought to sus-
lain the party in power, lending
money freely to the adherents of Jack
SON The bank failed, its cashier
swartwouted, and the sacred fund,
lett by the father of the country to the
poor OF Alexandria, was no more.