Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-02-20

| versationalist, he was never Q ready public
speaker. Even in advanced life, while reading
ms carefully prepared state papers, be sxhib-
tied much nervousness. Without having loud
voice he was . clear and deliberate reader.
sHIs lARLY souaSAL.
The earliest records Of his indepsndsnt opi>-
ions apartfrom his school books, il W except
MS agency in formulating his vsrsion Of the
"Kules OF Civility and Decent Behaviour" ere
70 De found in "A Journal of Ny Journey Over
me Mountains" begun Msrsh II, l7A7-S, whom
ne was Just one month over sixteen years Of
nge; washington held . commission from
william and Mary College - public surveyor.
A record of this fact was made at Culpepsr
Court House July %, 1749 but il 10 probable he
was a licensed surveyor several years before
mat Even ct this age he possessed not only
me expert knowledge Of . surveyor, but eI-
hibited surprising fortitude and perseverance,.
| associating with business men in . business
way and discharging important trusts with .
| steadlness OLE purpose and ability which elic-
TIED universal commentator. By his genius,
probity. perseverance and attachments a.
surveyor he achieved . reputation for meritori-
| Gus performances at the age Of sixteen above
| AL contemporaries. Washington attained his
full stature before his twentieth year, was an
| athlete of the first order-tali. strong and of
graceful carriage. He was . skillful horseman,
fond Of field sports and accustomed to vigor-
Gus and prolonged exertiou.
| HIS DRESS AND MANNER.
| He was neat and careful in his dress, but not
the least inclined to foppishness. Whatever
he made use Of or wore he wished to be in good
taste and the best of its kind. He was fond of
children, considerate Of the feelings Of others,
| kind and liberal to servants, punctual to en-
| gagements, circumspect in his intercourse with
people in general, painstaking and explicit in
his business transactions. A memorandum in
his journal OF 1748 gives minute directions to
his tailor, which begins as follows: Have my
| fol vii
made Frocke with Lapel Breast" DC. The
memorandum is long and very specific in its
| directions.
| Nor did he neglect to study what was becom-
Ing IN manners and department. as is mani
| tested in his version of the RULES of Civility
and Decent Behaviour" Of whose underlying
principles he was master in q high degree His
| habit OF noting his personal expenses has pre-
served for us the following fact: ''September 10,
i14s, cash, 10 shillings paid the music Master
| Tor my entrance to the dancing class
July II, 1853, he opens an account against
| Mrs. Mary Washington. There are many
charges In this account, chiefly for money lent
his mother annually or oftener to the close of
her life. Beneath the last entry is written:
Settled"
Washington grasped knowledge of the prac-
| tical and useful affairs in life almost by intui-
| ton.
HIS INTEREST IN AGRICULTURE.
His earliest recorded observations on the
value of lands, the quality of timber. the pro-
ductlveness of the soil, &C., in his Journal illus
trate the maturity Of his mind: SUNDAY
March IL. 17i7-S. Rode to his Lordship's Quar-
ter about Miles higher up We river, we went
through most beautiful Groves of Sugar Trees
spent ye best part OF ye Day in admiring ye
Land"
Washington was an enthusiastic admirer Of the
grand and sublime in nature and was, a. his
diaries show, specially observant of the beau
rk,ly, L
our forests, never beingat loss to tell will pre-
clslon where the finest specimens of the various
species were to be found.
Later in life when he was embellishing the
lawn and grounds of Mount Vernon he took
pains to transplant to them hundreds of select
specimens OF the grandest indigenous trees of
our country, from near and remote localities,
noted either for their effect In the landscape,
their shade graceful forms, beauty of bud,
leaf, blossom or fruit or for the variety Of their
autumnal tints.
UNDERGOING HARpsHIPs.
While his engagements a surveyor brought
him many opportunities for observing the
grandeur Of nature, they also imposed numer-
GUS hardships and privations. On spare leaf
i'll his journal is the draft of a letter, without
date. but written in 1748, to "Dear Richard"
in which he describes some Of his discomforts
He writes: Nothing would make it pass of
tolerably but "a good reward, Doubbleoon il
NY CoIiStiut gam every lay tuat tie weather
will permit my going out and sometimes six
Pistoes." From the tore of this and the drafts
OF other letters in the same book, to youthful
friends, it is evident he at first felt sorely his
isolation and want Of companionshp. But
there is no intimaton anywhere that he lacked
the fortitude or perseverance necessary to bear
the privation or perform the duties he had
undertaken.
Early in life he manifested the fixed determi-
nation to earn more than his expenses that he
lob all Al.
others and forward his own plans. Washing
tons early surveys, it will be remembered |
were chiefly in the unsettled parts of the |
Shenandoah valley and along the Potomac
river and its larger branches III Virginia. For
want of habitations the surveyors were Obliged |
~ camp out in improvised tents His Journal. |
under date OF "March 81. l748," has the follow
Ing record: early this Morning one of our |
Men went out with We Gun l. soon returned |
with two Wild Turkies We then went to our |
Business run Of three Lots 4 returned to our
Camping place at Stumps."
As illustrating his fortitude and perseverance, |
the draft Of the following letter to youthful |
friend in the fall Of 1748 may be quoted: II |
have not sleep'd above three Nights or four in |
bed but after Walking good deal all the |
Day lay down before the ire upon Little |
Hay Straw Fodder or bearskin whichever is to |
be had."-[Journal of My Journey Ouer the |
Mountains, p. 63.
1t will be remembered that at the time this |
journal was written the country west OF the |
Blue Ridge was the home and hunting ground |
Of the Indian.
In March, Ills. war party Of Indians, re-
turning from the south, with one scalp, stopped |
at the surveyors camp for the night, and were |
induced, for bottle OF rum, to give an exhibi- |
ton OF their war dance.-(J Journal Of Ny Jour- |
ney Ouer the Mountdins.l
The following memorandum from this Jour-
nal, without date, but probably made in l749 |
shows Georges sOlicitude for the business in |
terests Of his brother Lawrence, who had |
gone to England chiefly ON the business Of the |
"Ohio Company
when see my Brother Austin to ENQUIRE of |
him whether he is the Acting Attorney for my |
Brother and as my Brother Lawrence left |
Directions with the Hon. W. FIX to remit his |
Pay as Adjutant whether it would not be more
proper to Keep 1t to Pay the Notes of Hand |
that's Daily coming against him and to Write
Word to Williamsburg to Acquaint his Hon:
my b: A: to write him word"
HIS BUSINESS HABITS.
Sun more characteristic Of young Washing
ton is the following record in I74s: Memo
random to charge Mrs. Ans. Washington with
40 and 18d the 80 Of July to Maryland House.
wife a. also Major Law: Washington with l-3 |
lent Is Of August SO the II DO 2-6 Do: l read
to the Reign Of K: John In the Spectators
Read TO No. 143.''
In a small dilapidated ledger, probably the
first opened by George Washington, may be
found accounts against the following named
eighteen persons. Their names, with the years
in which the entries were made are here given