The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1905-02-23

NA~S A)~ SSAIAH KITTY
Warrington, in 1.-The Nirginians," was
drawn from him.
He was, by that time, married to a
certain beautiful Miss Sally Cary, with
whom rumor in the colony said George
Washington also had been in love. The
couple had invited Washington to Join
them for q visit to Fairfax's new inher-
itance, Towlston Manor, in Yorkshire.
and were much disappointed when
Washington wrote out to them:
MY induIging myself in a trip to
England depends upon so many con-
~tingencies, which in all probability may
Inever occur, that l dare not even think
of such q qualification" A comfort,
perhaps, to some s~tay-at-homes of the
present day, although their reward for
labor in the home field may not prove
quite So wonderful as that Of the most
illustrious of all Americans.
The two Georges in their youth did
not spend all their days in sport and
travel. Side by side they went into
the political contests of the country.
Perhaps the most interesting phase
of the friendship of the two Georges
was hat during the oncoming Of the
| Revolutionary War, while Washington
was slowly but surely taking his place
! as one of the guiding spirits Of the
movement toward disruption from the
mother country, and George Fairfax
was as steadfastly holding to his con-
viction that, such a movement was
wrong-and mischievous.
In spite of this burning difference,
their relations did not alter. They dis
cussed the question personally and by
letter, from every standpoint, each
listening respectfully to the others
views, and each ending as firm as be-
fore in his own opinion.
FROM PATRIOT TO TORY.
1t was to George Fairfax that Wash
ington finally gave u%tterance to that
noble cry Of feeling about the coming
Conflict:
Unhappy it is to reflect that a
brothers sword has been sheathed in a
brothers breast, and that the once
happy and peaceful plains of America
are to be either drenched with blood
or inhabited by slaves. Sad alterna-
tive! But can a virtuous man hesitate
in his choice?"
George Fairfax sailed finally for
England, passing the famous tea
ships coming into Boston Harbor, and
in England the conscientious Tory
thereafter lived and died.
During his absence at this time
Washington charged himself with the
care Of Belvoir, and the various affairs
relating to his friends Virginia estate.
Fairfax's death was a blow to him,
Another, link of remembrance binding
Washington to Belvoir was that there
began, as has been said, his first &C
Quaintance with the interesting old
lord of Greenway Court.
This old nobleman had come out to
live in the Virginia wilderness in the
prime of his manhood, and abandon
his beautiful home OF Leeds Castle
in Kent, England, and other estates,
contented himself with ruling over a
principality of land inhabited chiefly
by a few backwoodsmen, a few scat
tered families, many prowling and
bloody-minded Indians and vast abund-
ance Of big game.
His lodge at Greenway Court, not far
from the present town of Winchester,
was an abode of delight to the boy
Washington, who was frequently bid
den there to stay. In the dining room
of the writer Of these lines hang two
plates of old Oriental china, part
of a set once presented by Washington
to Lord Fairfax on his arrival at
Greenway Court for one of these many
visits.
From Lord Fairfax he received color
Ind influence in many matters relating
TO literature, culture and the science OF
in foreign courts. In a
thousand ways their ~sympathies
touched and through all the talks,
when Washington stood fast for the
colonies, Lord Fairfax for the crown,
they kept their friendship intact.
Most schoolboys know the touching
story Of how news of the surrender Of
Lord CORVALLIS came to the oid baron,
IS he sat by the chimney corner in his
great lodge brooding over the trend OF
public events. When convinced that
America was forever free from Eng
lands rule, and, worse than all, that
it was the lad he had helped to train
whom the British commander at
Yorktown had surrendered an army,
ne at first said nothing. After a while
turned to black Joe, his body SER
want, exclaiming plaintively:
Take me to my bed, Joe! 1t is time ]
Tor me to die"
Belvoir, in the mutability Of affairs
concerning American estates, has
passed out of Fairfax hands. If the
Id house had endured, like Mount
and Arlington, it might well
nave served as a shrine for National
)ilgrimage.-YOuth's Companion.