The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-02-19

Facsimile of One8ot'f the E;5+l' 4 st
y Interesting Letters \ . Ever = /.
WrittenFB Him \
HIS VIEWS @, n {.
TENDER PASSION ASST o. y
sEnistle ~ More Than d Century
Ago We'll Preserved. Ills
n Advice Not Followed j

~ go ~ w eli ~ = sgs1f
Is Advice Not Followed 81
,,-..... + II our good fotturie---swe Amer
3 AZ Yf brans4-ttnt NO possess the coi}i ,ts
sssk 4 Of 50 many letters zen ~ y,
$3.50 hirn Of whom It was SAID tt Nv
Ia was cleft childless that h Il
~ .s'"sS' might he tho Father Of MS tou ~,
Nh, HIS was the scholarly, w.
erfry type OF mind which reaoiiy' t .,.,,s !
- saf,,,i,! Il axnrcsses itself in appropriate
! nhrnseoloey. lie liked TO write. u .Llt W ~.
5 4 ,,,nstctfin the English of his Tine %
n M 1,,nnne,,s that we have NIL nlallher q
enistles from him In regardNto pupiic n
# fairs q military movements. and poiitllfcsa GO!
III o,iostIoY,s-matters requiring the compineu
Ia deiberaion and acrmen in when ne ile - ~
X 1,enulariy eSceled. We have, 100, r le . 4
tors showing his warm domestic
II Ills devotion, to his wife. his thorouslilS
paternnl interest In his adoptea cliIutu,,
his sweet, strong recognition OF a., ny. Wy
& indications or relationship and friendship.
#3I INT there are very few letters extant
5 touching On asIington's views Il OH the
8 4nnder IN ssion. True, he wrote a. certain
58iaay--once favored by his Ereputed atten-
Il t,ons-toncerninE his love for Mrs. Daniel
" Gusts. Also he wrote Nelly Custis a fath-.
Il efly eplste regarding her future posslpiie y
sentimental affairs. But, despite the l il1
n that lie is generally acknoTvsleedged 70 iiaNe
* been d man or nlhnyFa fairs, and m en-
laustive knowledge and love for y; omen,
II "a has rarely put Ills Views of life ana
" love on {reco I'd 35 The person to whom he
seems III o8haye written most fully, most
y satisfactortly, and most charming ely, was
1 ELIZA Parke 1C.istisknowlltn as Betsey Gus
N of whom comparatively little is known
Z BY the world Mt large. Il y. E 81
TO her lie wrote a lctterSin September,
So 1S4, touching on romantic ma tiers. and to
4 her, Oh january 1G 1796. no wrote one of
y the most delightful epistles OF his life
THAT letter tho fac simile of which appears
h sn The Times Dispatch to-day. II
a d NO one ever und erst God romance better
/, than this most practical statesman, and
IL NC n may be sure that his synlpathfes
y would be with Betsey. even IL She saw ut
mot to heed hts most admirable adS.ce.
Yet he, with, hts rare gift for what we
aca,l ching nowadays could not res
\ sIsti the opportunity4o of pointing out Ito
&IlerS the way in which she should 60 ,sB
Ks And nm excellent way it Is too No
y girl ever had more ssoliiTd advice given 70
her. and were the letter 81 made text
book for the youthful public IT is sDos-
$sibseS that some modern errors might
he avoided. But since even aBetsey did
not altogether follow the advice Of Wash
8inst on perhaps itFwould be too much to
i expect that newer and more headstronS
generation would do 50! NJ vi
81 383 i.i8 The Letter.
And this is the letter which the first
and greatest OF American Presidents wrote
,y8the light of his tallow candle, more
than a century ago
s} Philadelphia, s Jan, 1875, 4
IL 50 NJ Dear Betsey: S8 s54 55355
While YOU cpnfidc In and do those things
" ,Nairh you have reason to believe are
pleasing and gratifying to me, you may
SFhe assured #of an saffectionate return
"A Whenever there Is a derelction of them
n On your part, It will, no doubt, produce
n "a correspondent effect on my part. HaN-
ling fixed these data as the basis Of 4
correspondence which you have solicited,
v promise, while you adhere to them in
princple and practice, to answer all your
letters in as prompt q manner as my
leisure will permit, and do assure You
moreover that the same candid advice
Will DO given to you as ~ you6were my
n own daughter.
e5gl In your letter you say YOU shall always
be thankful to ME for my advice--on wha
5 ccasions? Am + to await your eXpla-
Z nation, or am to guess at your mean
y ing? II the former, PROFOUND your sub
1ects. and do 1t with frankness. II tho
4 latter, i may wander in the field Of con
" lecture; but with a girl Of nineteen It may
IL not be SO difficult to conceive, because
4 love and It's concomltants are supposed
LIZ to be always In tue foreground
Taking love then ,sop the theme, let me
b ask II you have already drank Of this
cup; or do you wish to know my descrip-
5# ton of a person who would be proper
,5iH to administer 1t to you? II tho first,
a advice will come too latc--,for your an
swer, i ain persuaded. would be similar to
3, that Of q lady OF my acquaintance who
Il asking the opinion OF her friend on the
il propriety OF yielding to the addresses OF
sa her lover. added she hoped 1t would NEE,
HI resolved to marry him. II The latter
3 my description OF a suitable character
All may receive some attention Upon that
ground I proceed to offer the following
IN sentiments:
Neither shun by too much coyness tic
# addresses OF a suitable character whom
$8 you may esteem: nor encourage them by
u any advances on your part, however pre-
III disposed toward them your inclination
s5 may be- The first may discourage, the
s other may disgust, the man of sensibllty
Connect Yourself with Il person OF
q; congenial age; for youth and old age,
no more than winter and summer, can
be misunderstanding fligidlty OF Tie lat
ter cannot besjn4unison with the warmth
of the former, and, besides the habits
OF the two are widely disslmilar.
s3j I'm choosing a partner FOR life, prefer
NJ one OF your own countrymen DIV thls
mean an American) Of Visible prom.
AN erty. whose family Is known and
whose circumstances (ot depending
upon advantageous or fortuitous mat
sss.5ters) may not like a foreisner's, re-
ge dlice you TO the hcar,rendlng alterna-
88tive Of parting with him or bidding n,l!eu
to your country family and friends
i$SS4 forever.
SSs IN forming connection Of this dura-
8S billty, let the understanding as well as
DO passion be consulted; without the
q appreciation OF the first the Indulgence
5s u the latter may be compared TO The
pose which WIN bloom, glow for a while
Ss "a hen fade and die, leaving nothing bu,
4t 1horns behind them. There are other
conslderatlons, which, though secoil-
dairy, are, nevertheless, important
3A Among these, congenialIty CT temper Is