The Iola register., 1897-04-30
WASHINGTON
The Boy, the Lover, the
Soldier and the
+ Statesman.
By F. A. CBER,
Author Of "The Empress josephine"
"TrGUels IN Merico," Etc, Etc.
GCOpyright, 1897. by the AuthOr.l
CHAPTER XII.
HOME AND HAPPINESS
By F. A. CBEF


bodied the former owners idea Of
TRUE HAPPINESS.
These are the things which once possess d
Will make life that s truly bless'd:
A good estate on healthy Soil,
Got not by Vice nor yet by Toll;
Round warm Fire pleasant Toke,
With Chimney ever free from Smoke;
A Strength entire, a sparkling Bowl
quiet Wife, quiet Soul;
A Mind, as we'll as Body, whole,
Prudent Simplicity, Constant Friends,
A Diet which no Art commends;
merry Night without much Drinking,
A happy Thought without much Thinking
Each Night by quiet Sleeps made short;
A Will to be but what thou art;
Possessed Of these, all else defy
And neither wish nor fear to Die.
These are the things which, once possessed,
Will make Life that's truly bless'd.
Above the happy household hovered
white winged peace. On the horizon no
war clouds yet were visible. Having
abandoned the sword and pistol for the
plow and pruning hook, this American
Cincinnatus gave himself to his agricul-
tural employments heart and SOUL There
was work enough for many men to do,
but so Systematically was the vast e.
tate conducted that the owner always
found time in plenty for recreation.
With stables full Of thoroughbreds and
kennels full of hounds Washington now
INDUCED in hunting, in the season, at
least two or three times a week. SAYS
one who went a-hunting with him:
The general is a very excellent and
bold horseman, leaping the highest
fences and going extremely quick, with
out standing on his stirrups, bearing on
his bride or letting his horse run wild"
His bold riding occasionally brought
him to grief, but no serious accident
ever befell him and no mischance de-
TERED him from his favorite sport Scat
tered throughout the pages of his diary
i'm which he religiously entered every
detail of his daily doings-are many en-
tries like the following:
event a-hunting with Jacky Custis
and catched Fox, after three hours
chase; found it in the Greek. Mr..
Bryan, Fairfax, Mr.. Grayson and Phil
Alexander came home by SUNRISE Hunt
ed and catched Fox with these, Lord
Fairfax, his brother, and Colo. Fairfax,
all of whom, with Mr.. Fairfax and
Mr.. Wilson of England, dined here
And they probably made week of
it" for two days later is the entry,
Hunted again with the same COM
pany." In his journal for January and
February, 1868, is recorded that he
went hunting five consecutive days and
followed the hounds 6 days, which is a
pretty fair record for a single month.
He INDUCED himself in this manly
sport until within a few years of his
death, and it was with great sorrow
that he finally confessed that his hunt
ing days were over.
At the battle of Princeton, it is said,
finding himself caught between the two
opposing armies, he dashed down hill,
leaped his blooded roam over a wall,
gave the view halloo and enthusiastical-
ly shouted to his aids, ''This is perfect
fox chasep' This is but one instance
among many scores of his dash and Wig
or, his perfect Indifference to danger.
By marriage to the Widow Custis he
became one Of the richest men in his
province, and besides stocks and bonds,
slaves and personal properties of other
sorts, he owned some 8, 900 acres of real
ty under cultivation. At his death, in
1893, his property was valued at over
half million dollars, including some
50,0 acres of wild and cultivated
lands.
Hospitable and generous, his table
was always well supplied with the best
obtainable, including the many choice
dainties afforded by the adjacent Poto-
mac, as fish and wild fowl, and was
always laid with extra covers for chance
guests. Washington was abstemious in a
degree, but possessed an excellent appe-
tite, as might be expected of one given
to outdoor life. He liked we'll cooked
and we'll served meal, and, gentleman
that be was, liked to hnger over the |
nuts and the wine.
His generous nature made him prone I
to indulge in generous liquors-not to |
excess perhaps, but as concomitants of /
meals and on festive occasions. One Of /
the first of his purchases after settling |
at Mount Vernon was ''pipe of the /
best old Madeira, " and his favorite bev- /
erages, aside from this same wine, were
cider, flip, small beer and porter. 1t /
cannot be claimed that he believed in /
total or even partial abstinence, for at
his second proposal for election to the .
Virginia legislature, in 1858, his friend
who managed it1endered an account for
ga hogshead of punch and barrel of
rum, 80 gallons strong beer, about 40
gallons wine and brandy, with "syder
royl," etc, ad libitum. About 400 vot-
ers were treated, who averaged "per
head shillings for food and 81 shil-
ings for liquors, each with developed
capacity of about three quarts at sit
ting.
Washington was elected over his op-
ponent simply by drowning him out,
yet he wrote his agent that be was sur
prised at their moderation and feared he
had not been liberal enough. He did not
object to drink, but to the effects of it,
10 r-or1ovor nth ba |