The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1909-02-18
The Inn VILLAGE
sf 6RLVGTOM ENGLAND

the burdens of the presidency, LETT washington
with tine simple instincts and habits OF the coun
ty magnate and man OF business ne "lo.e ~ a., .
friend in those latter days that he mad iounu MI
Vsrpon in need of careful attention on his return
from the army. Friends were welcome. out 'ney
must expect simple fare-a bit OF mutton anu
glass OF wine were all the table boosted. Later
still. after Washington had definitely iaid aslue
the cares of state Col Darlington found at MI
Vernon still marked simplicity. The veteran upon
the occasion of Carringtous visit went to bed at
midnight instead OF nine o'clock, extending MS
time three hours in honor OF his guest. Mrs'
Washington always spoke OF her otncial me WIN
its levees and Formally as her lost days anu
Mrs Darlington found her in her own rooms with
a chambermaid knitting in one corner and a niue
negress learning TO sew in another. The first lady
of the White House was even then knitting gloves
and stockings for friends and dependents. II was
OF this period perhaps few years earlier that
an English actor tells a pleasant story He was
on the public road somewhere near Mt vernon
when private coach was upset. The occupants
a fine lady and her escort almost angrily demand
ed help. While the actor was doing what he could
a large man rode up on horseback dismounteo'
rendered effectua aid for which he received scant
thanks and started the ll-mannered pair upon
their journey Then the stranger turned to the
actor recognized him and recalled the fact OF hav
ing seen him more than once upon the stage BY
this time the actor in turn had recognized the man
on horseback as Gen Washington. The incident
closed with the actor on his way to dine at MI
Vernon
For most of us to-day that giant figure in the
background of our short national history suffces
to hide the perspective of the earlier Washington
in his successive stages as a colonial American
Nevertheless. the plain planter and provincial sol
der called upon to lead a new nation In war and
in peace, and to take an unwilling hand In world
politics. must always have thought OF HIS later
life in relation with his humber past Whoever
would know Washington In his entirety must not
content himself with reading American history
from Bunker Hill to the middle OF John Adams
administration and standing barred before the
tomb at Mt Vernon.
"He must visit the Northern Neck, where
Washington even at his greatest. loved to live an
equal among his neghbors; he must Freder
icksburg, with the still standing homestead Of
Washlngtons mother and the house of his sister;
he must take the delicious walk from Wakefield
wharf to the lonely birthplace monument In the
great wheat field overlooking the Potomac. see
the very plantations that the schoolboy of 1740
looked upon, hear the mad mockingbirds he
must have heard them. Above all. such a student
must navigate the lovely waters of the Potomac
in its lower course. where the stream and It's
tributaries spread and branch like an inland sea;
must hear the homely speech of the native popu-
lation TO whom the name Washington connotes
not only the dead hero but their living nelghbors
OF one blood with the first president"