Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-14
TEMPLE OF FAME

avowed for each other Is fixed upon
solid basis It will receive no diminution in
the course Of two or three years; In which
time he may prosecute his studies ana
thereby render himself more deserving of
the lady, and useful to society. If, unfor-
tunately, as they are both young, there
should be an abatement of affection on
either side, or both, 1t had better precede
than follow marriage
Delivering my sentiments thus freely
will not, hope, lead you into belief that
I am DESTROYS Of breaking off the match.
To postpone it is all have In Views for
shall recommend to the young gentle
man with the warmth that becomes man
of honor, to consider himself as much en-
gagged to your daughter as IL the indissoiu-
BILE knot were tied and as the surest means
of effecting this to apply himself closely
to his studies, by which he will. in great
measure, avoid those little firtations with
other young ladies. that may, by dividing
his attention, contribute not a little to d.
vide the affection
Washington was only measurably sue
cessful in staying the course OF love. Irv-
ing relates that ''the match was a salts
factory one to all parties, but II was
agreed that It was expedtent for the youth
to pass a year or two previously at col
lege. Washington accordingly accompanied
him to New York and placed him under
the care of the Rev. DIR. Cooper, president
Of Kings College, to pursue his studies
in that institution. All this occurred be-
fore the death of his sister. Within year
after that melancholy event he became
impatient for a union with the object of
his choice. His mother, now more indul-
gent than ever to this. her only child.
yielded her consent, and Washington no
longer made opposition
at has been against my wishes writes
the latter to President Cooper, that he
should quit college in order that he may
soon enter into a new scene of life, which
think he would be much filter for some
years hence than now. But having his
o1;r Tow, rhn M mo a
and the acquiescence of almost all his rela-
tives to encounter, l did not care. as he
is the last OF the family. to push my oppo-
stion too far; have. therefore, submitted
to q kind necessity.
The marriage took place February 3,
17I4 when the bridegroom was not yet
twenty-one years old and the BRIDE was
sixteen.
When the Mount Vernon family had been
disrupted by the death OF Mrs. Washing
ton in 1902 George W. P. Custis. made rich
by inheritance from the Custis and Wash
ington families determined to make his
home at Arlington. The hill on the old
Alexander place presented a noble site,
convenient to Georgetown, Washington and
Alexandria. Brick for the mansion was
burned from the clay which is still a great
source of wealth to that region. The great
feature of the house, the portico, sixty
feet wide by twenty-five feet deep, is said
in some of the guide books TO be modelled
after the Temple of Theseus. at Athens,
and in other books after the temple Of
Paestum, near Naples.
All writers on Arlington have dwelt on
the plate, portraits and other heirlooms
of the Gusts and Washington families
which helped furnish Arlington. They
mention among the relics which Gusts took
to Arlington the bed on which Washington
expired, the tents used by him in the revo-
luton, the harpsichord of Nellie Gusts and
scores of other articles. The tents are now
In the National Museum. Many of the ar
ticles left behind by the Lees were taken
possession of by the federal government