Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-01-11

Revolution was thus practically closed,
Washington set out to visit his mother,
whom he had not seen since his appoint
ment to the command of the army. He
was accompanied by brilliant array of
French officers, who were full of anxiety to
meet the woman who was the mother of
suck son. She received him with warmth
and as one we'll beloved, and solicitously
inquired as to his health, remarked upon
his personal appearance and noted the
lines care had worn in his features; but to
the amazement of the French officers, she
never once referred to his glorious achieve
ments, and the high position he occupied
in the eyes of the world They expected
to see the mother elated, joyous, and all
but wild with pride in her son. Pride
indeed was manifest, but it was under the
veil of maternal love for her son rather
than the hero. With dignity and self-pos-
session, Mary Ball-who descended from
that John Ball, of England, whom Green, in
his "Shorter History characterized as
pioneer of liberty, in whose preaching Eng
land first listened to the knell of feudalism
and the declaration of the rights of men
engaged in domestic labors, put them
aside to welcome her distinguished son,
who, on the wings of victory, had sped his
way TO lay his laurels at her feet She
leaned upon his arm in the festivities that
followed, clad simply as the modest and
poor woman of the day, hut so bore her
self with dignity and grace that she won
from the foreign officers present at the
great ball, given in honor of Washington
and his mother, EXPLANATIONS of amaze
ment. 1t is said they declared, "If such
are the matrons Of America, well may she
boast of illustrious sons"
Mary was left widow when Washing
ton was but lad, and upon her deyolved
the training of five children. Lawrence
Washington, who knew her well, and was
a playmate with her son, even when his
own locks were white, could not refer to
his visits to her household without feel
ing akin to awe, for she so bore herself,
and SO commanded her children, that her
yery presence was benediction, and yet
so commanding and loving withal, so i'm
pressive and yet so kind, that the visitors
all stood before her with a respect mani
fest and in awe that not even their own
parents inspired. The unanimous testi-
mony of all who knew her is that she was
remarkable woman, and that in the son
George all the noble traits of her charac-
ter, her manner, her bearing and her moral
vigor were reproduced.
In 1884 Lafayette made a journey to her
home to pay his respects to the mother of
his friend. She received him in her home
spun, but as republican queen might re-
ceive, and in response to his eulogiums
upon her son. she simply replied: II am
not surprised at what George has done, for
he always was a good boy" When Wash
ington was chosen the first President of
the new nation, he repaired to Fredericks-
burg for his mothers blessing, and she
babe him that touching farewell that has
been written as page in the history of
the Republic and soon after she bowed her
gray head, and at the age of So passed
away.
Now, will the nation in all its wealth,
with all its professions of regard for the
pioneers of American liberty, permit such
woman's grave to remain unmarked ?
VIII we, as a people, invite the pity, if
not the contempt, of future generations for
the neglect chargeable to us that will re-
suit in the Identity of the grave of Mary
Washington being lost If we have not
pride in the matron sufficient to honor her
memory with a marble pile of modest cost,
let us be spurred to action by the shame of
our neglect, which all foreigners who visit
the spot ascribe to us with judgments not
harsher than we deserve. Let Congress by
its action put stop to the begging by the
women of Fredericksburg for the pitiful
sum they ask for the completion of the
monument, and out of hand itself direct
the work TO be done, and the charges to be
borne by the national purse.