The new era. (Walden, Colo.) 1906-19??, 1909-03-04
'He 7y~Y WALAGE
Of 6RZNG7DN ENGLAND
s%eGs$

,h, h,rdans of the presidency, iel' w a'h''S'o'i
with the simple instincts ana hao''s VI ,ne w ,
~ ,,agnate and man OF business ne "'o'e " "
s;ona In those latter days that he mad louhu MI
vernon in need of careful attention on MS return
from the army Friends were welcome, pul ''e'
must expect simple fare-a bit OF mutton anu
glass of wine we're all the table boasteo. ha.ei
still after Washington had dehhiteiy 'aio as,ue
the cares of state Col. Darlington found AT MI
Vernon still marked simplicity. The veteran upon
the occasion of Carrngton's visit went 10 pea a.
midnight instead of nine O'Clock, extending MS
time three hours in honor of his guest. MIS-.
Washington always spoke of her ofhcia NE WIN
its leyees and Formally her lost days ana
Mrs Darlington found her In her own rooms WIN
a chambermaid knitting in one corner, and NIUE
negress learning to sew in another. Inc hrst 'aoy
of the White House was even then knitting gloves
and stockings for friends and dependents. IL was
of this period or perhaps few years earlier. that
an English actor tells a pleasant story. ne was
on the public road somewhere near MI. vernon
when a private coach was upset Inc occupants
a fine lady and her escort, almost angrily demand
ed helm WhiA the actor doing what he could.
a large man rode up horseback, dismounted,
rendered eTectual aid for which he received scant
thanks and started the illmannered pair upon
their tourney Then the stranger turned to the
actor recognized him and recalled the fact OF nav
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 his way to dine at Mt
Vernon.
For most of us to-day that giant figure in the
BACKGROUND of short national history sufices
to hide the perspective of the earlier Washington
in his successive stages a colonial American
Nevertheless the plain planter and provincial sol
der called upon to lead a new nation IN war ana
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 neighbours he must see Freder-
icksburg, with the still standing homestead of
Washngtou's 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 1I4O
looked upon. hear the mad mockingbirds as 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 its
tributaries sp cad and branch like an inland sea:
must hear the homey speech of the native popu-
lation to whom the Washington connotes
not only the dead hero but their living neighbors
of one blood with the first president"