Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-05-05

direction OF knowledge. Such an occasion
would be good for a half column today, and
the worid would know In . few hours after
the wedding how Mary Ball looked from
the top Of her head. then covered with
chestnut red hair, to the heelleSx slippers
that she probably wore
The uncertainty Of the place Of the mar
rage has actually suggested to some en-
terprising chroniclers the idea that Wash
tngton was born In England This prepos-
ferrous theory ought TO get its quietus from
washington. for he wrote, with his own
hand. George. eldest son OF Augustine by
his second marriage: was born In west
moreland county" II was in the mansion
house on the Wakefield plantation that
George Washington was born, and It was
to this pretty home that Augustine Wash
ington took his thrifty wife when they re-
turned from England. This house was
burned. and the Washingtons moved to
another house on the Rappahannock river
opposite the town Of Fredericksburg. It
was called Pine Grove by the family, be-
cause Of the pines that stood around It
BUT 1t Yves better known to the Inhabitants
OF that part OF the country as "the Ferry
Farm because Of the ferry across the
tine Washington died Of rheumatic govt,
April IL, 1I42. aged forty nine years, leav-
ing his WIFE twelve years younger than
nmseit to care for FIVE little children, all
under twelve.
Her Motherly Rule.
She was painfully neat, and, as for those
nvs children, when one looks at the law
iessness OF the young generation of today.
the restlessness inquisitive assurance and
bold impertinences. one is inclined to wonder
II different blood ran In the veins of the
children of "'76?" The rule Of Mrs WASH
ington-and OF the other parents of the
oay-was an absolute despotism. No child
sat down In the presence Of its parents
unless It was ordered to do 30. Infringe
ment OF this rule brought dismissal from
the presence Of the mother II NOT a tioyr
and brought both from the father A child
spoke TO Its parents and elders only when
spoken to. and then respectfully, or severe
punishment followed. 1t obeyed Commands
implicitly and unQuestioningiy; wore what
was put upon It; ate what was Set before
1t; went to bed when told: got UP when or
dered, and was In fact an automaton, an
parently without thought or volition OF its
own. until It was well up in the teens
In the midst Of this order Of things George
washington grew, the stern examplar of
the severest type. From his handsome,
dignihed English father he inherited his
splendid physique; from his uncompromis-
ingly stern. self-contained and perfectly
poised mother he inherited those Qualities
which made him great. and from both of
them there came to him less pleasing char
actertstics. to which his biographers have
been kindly blind. OF the other children of
Mary Washington there is not much to
say. They were good citizens, but the mold
OF greatness seems to have been broken
when George was born. The others neither
achieved greatness nor had IL thrust upon
them.
It n difficult for people Of the present
day to comprehend the character of Mary
Washington. because the class CT severe
women marttnets to which she belonged no
longer exists. She never gosstped and never
uttered scandal She was never for q mo-
naent Idle and fdleness was sin In her eyes.
She was close In her cealings exacting but