The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1909-02-19
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tho burdens of the presidency, ieit WasAine'oA
with the simple instincts ana haoits Vi me ~ ~
friend in those latter days that he had found MI
Vernon in need of careful attention on MS return
from the army. Friends were welcome, Out tne9
must expect simple fare-a bit OF mutton anu "
glass of wine were all the table boosted. Later
still. after Washington had definitely laid ASIDE
tho cares of state. Col. Darlington found at MI.
Vernon still marked simplicity. The veteran upon
the occasion of Carrington's WISH went 10 pea a.
midnight instead of nine o'clock, extending MS
time three hours in honor or MS guest. Mls'
Washington always spoke of her of1clai lie WIN
it's levees and Formally as her lost days ana
Mrs. Darlington found her in her own rooms, with
a chambermaid knitting in one corner, and a ntue
negress learning to sew in another. Inc nrst iauy
of the White House was even then knitting gloves
and stockings for friends and dependents. 1t was
of this period, or perhaps a few years earlier, that
an English actor tells a pleasant story. He was
on the public road near Mt. vernon
when a private coach was upset. The occupants
a fine lady and her escort, almost angrily demand
ed help. While the actor was doing what he conio.
a large man rode up on horseback, dismounted,
rendered effectual aid for which he received scant
thanks, and started the ill-mannered pair upon
their journey. 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 on his way to dine at MT.
Vernon.
For most of us to-day that giant figure In the
background of our short national history sufhces
to hide the perspective os 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 neighbors; he must see Freder-
i~cksburg, with the still standing homestead of
Washington'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 1740
looked upon, hear the mad mockingbirds as he
must have heard them. Above all, such q student
must navigate the lovely waters Of the Potomac
in its lower course. where the stream and its
tributaries spread and branch like an inland sea;
must hear the homely speech of the native popu-
lation to whom the name Washington ~connotsa
not only the dead hero. but their living n~eighborr
Of one blood with the frst president"