The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1905-02-14

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siream Of American pilgrims. Mount
Vernon Is worth visit, for 1t Is not
alone the shrine to which the loyal
patriot may Justly pay his tribute Of
respect. but II is a help In undcr.
Standing tho development or this
country, Tho estate lies upon tile
hills tl!at border tho Potomac. Wash.
inSton, in q letter telling Of his home,
said thatit was washed By ten milcs
[ot tldewater; Ships sailed up tho
river 0nd landed at the Mount ycr.
non wharycs TO take their loads d.
rect from tho plantation, such were
the qualities ottobacco, wheat, etc,
produced there. When Washington
made his regular rounds over tho
plncc 10 direct the farming operations
he frequently rode twelve or fifteen
miles in his days Journey about Ills
plantation. His estate was a prlnci.
paltly yet so lavish was he III onter
lainlng his friends and neighbors
that he writes in one letter that while
he keeps one hundred and one mich
COWS, ho still has 10 buy milk 10 sup.
ply his large family.
The old mansion at Mount Vernon
still stands, and seen from the poto.
mac 1t is a fitting memorial OF the
man who was SO instrumental In civ.
Ing to the world n nation which has
50 far no rival. Washlngton's tastes
were all simple, and for his home.
md plantation. He drifted into the
current Of public life because ho WINS
q prominent plnntcr, and an encr.
getlc man Of country breeding. For
generations the Nashngtons had
been men of affairs in the colonies,
and even before the arrival OF the
first Washington in the Virginia
plantations they had been well rated
In England, where the family was as.
sociatcd with tho King. (
The Washlngtons Ind great cs.
tates, and when George was n young
man he came into contact with Lord
Fairfax. ncighbor, who had such
possessions that his $4,000 ncres.
reached far lip the Potomac md we'll
toward the western bounds of Mary,
land. Washington had taken to
mathematics in his early days, and
his knowledge Of surveying led Fair.
fax to send hin to survey the vast
estate In that way Washington
came to know the woods and the
West, and that knowledge developed
his self.rolianeo and his resources Of
mind. y = = II a.
II Is interesting to speculate on
what might have followed in the Uni:
ted States had not tho Revolution
made this country an independent
government With such vast estates
as were building up in Virginia..
where the soil Is fertile and the ell
mate as fine as any on earth, II Is
easy to infer TINT the American es,
tates must soon have oYershadowed
anything in England. and that long
ago the American landed proprlctors
would have become far more wealthy
and important than those Of tho
mother country. It il not impossible
that the colony might have super.
coded the parent as the powor in the
government making America now
the mistress Of much of Europe,
Mount Vernon shown how much.
Washington was the man Of clrcum!
aiunces as well as Of force Of char
acter The Revolution could not have
started except by men such az he
was who had influence and following,
and whose distance from England
made a sense of freedom an Instinct
and an inheritance. Tie Virginia
planter was born and reared 10 real.
. . HH d HIr
ize that his surroundings imposed
few restraints. He was absolute lord
Of his domain, while beyond his own
territory he was subject 10 only such
laws as Nature imposes on all mon
alike. Freedom and equality wefe
his constantSRd!tions. The King
was far awas was impossible that
The British r9sY Sshould hold over
such men and eyer such a colony
While Washington acquired Mount
Vernon and the estate by inheritance
from his brother, he received tho
place in cruder form. Therefore the
creation of the estate as 1t was left at
his death is largely the work OF his
hands. Washington enlarged the
house, giving 1t its pressa form, and
laid out the lawn, plante the trees
and planned the system of5oD6ration
which prevailed on the plantations,
He was exceedingly method lcal, AS
would be expected Of a suryeyo The
plans for Pohlck Church. which hef
drew in detail & a re as careful W and