, 1918-12-19

begin, and might be kept up almost indefinitely,
though, for his part, Washington never went be-
yond a second glass of wine, and 1t was his usual
custom to leave the table within a few minutes
after his wife had gone.
Toasts, in those days, were never drunk until
after the ladies had left the table. and no beauty's
health was ever pledged In this fashion while she
was present. But when the men found them
selves alone, it was the proper thing for a young
gentleman to get upon his feet-which, 1t is to
be hoped, were still steady-and to say, II give
you Betty Lomax, the most beautiful girl in West
moreland county" Or perhaps it might be Susan
Lee of Rappahannock. Such a toast was custom
arily drunk standing-with all the honors, as the
phrase was.
Indeed, Christmas was a great day of festiv-
ity In the Virginia OF that epoch. Breakfast was
at. eight or nine o'clock, unless it had been de-
cided to go a-hunting in the morning-in which
case the meal was eaten by candle-light. If there
was a fox-hunt-a sport of which Washington was
very fond-the host wore a brilliant red waist
coat trimmed with gold lace, and the ladies who
rode were beautiful in scarlet habits. On such
occasions Mrs. Washington would go out in her
"charlot and four" keeping as close to the hunt
as the roads would permit. Not until 17S5 were
the Mount Vernon kennels abolished and the dogs
sold.
Those were days when meals were ample, but
were not multiplied. Eating, when undertaken,
was no mere frivolity, but serious business. This
Christmas dinner was at 3 80 p. M; there had
been no lunch, and there was no supper to come.
After dinner there were games-blind mans buff,
hunt the slipper, and the like-with much romping
and more or less kissing. A sprig of mistletoe
was hung up In a convenient place, and If a girl
happened to be kissed under 1t by q young man
she did not faint or call for help. In fact, 1t
might be suspected that she did not seriously OBJ
ject.
Never. and nowhere, in this world were there
more capable and expert makers of love than the
young men of Washington's day In old Virginia.
Nobody ever saw jollfer fellows than they were.
If they loved fercely, they proved their sincerity
by marrying early; and, when one of them was
so unfortunate as to lose his wife, he would in
%variably marry again. Marriage was considered
just about the most important duty of life, and
the love affairs of the gentlefolk were freely
confded even to the servants. Black Tom knew
that Mars James was "going after Miss Sallie
Lee. and would talk the matter over with his
young master. And 1t was the same way with
the girls.
So it may easily be imagined that on a festive
occasion such as this Christmas celebration a
good deal of incidental love-making, some of it
serious enough, was accomplished. But the
Master of the Revels, though he himself had been
sufficiently ardent in his youth, was in later life
no eager sympathizer with such follies.
Though Mr.. Washington took no part in the
romps that followed the dinner, he heartily en-
joyed the fun. Occasionally he relished u game
of cards, and probably on this Christmas evening
he INDUCED in some such amusement, in company
with the older people, while the young folks
scampered and romped. He played for money.
but the stakes were small.
There were two young people at Mount Vernon
in those days-the son and daughter of Mrs.
Washington by her first husband. 1t is easy to
imagine the part they took in the romps on Christ
mas day. John and Martha, their names were,
but everybody knew them as Jacky and Patsy.
Patsy died in 1878, when just budding into won-
anhood, while her brother married young, and
had four children, two of whom. George and Mel
lie Custis. were adopted by Mr.. Washington. To
George he left the famous Arlington estate, oppo-
site the city of Washington, which erwar
fell by inheritance to the wife of Gen. Robert r.
Lee.
On Christmas eve there was a dance, to which
all the neighbors for many miles around were,
as a matter of course, invited. The party began
before eight, and was over by ten o'clock.
Young ladies' beauty In those times was not
spoiled by late hours. For music there was a
single fiddle, played by an old slave on the place
"a whIte-hnired negro who kept the time and
helped on the tune by pounding on the floor with
his big foot.
All the young ladies wore low-necked dresses,
making a brave display of pretty shoulders, and
the men were in knee-breeches and silk stockings.
Mrs. Washingtons gown, cut v-shaped and filed
in with ruching. was of French silk but the
clothing she ordinarily wore was of domestic
manufacture, being woven at Mount Vernon. where
no fewer than sixteen negro women were kept