Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1918-12-20

begin, and might be kept up almost indefinitely,
though, for his part, Washington never went be-
yond n second glass Of wine, and 1t was his uSual
custom to leave the table within Il few minutes
after his wife had gone.
Toasts, in those days, were never drunk until
after the Indies 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, 1t was the proper thing for n young
gentleman to get upon his feet--whlch, 1t Is to
be hoped, were still steady-and to say, Il give
you Betty Lomax, the most beautiful girl In West
moreland county" Or perhaps 1t might be Susan
Lee Of Ilappahannock. Such n toast was custom
arlly drunk standing-with all the honors, us the
phrase was.
Indeed, Christmas was n great day OF festiv-
ity in the Virginia of that epoch. Breakfast was
at eight or nine o'clock, unless 1t had been de-
cldcd to 60 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 60 out in her
chariot and four" keeping as close to the hunt
as the roads would permit. Not until 1875 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 80 p. m; there had
been no lunch, and there was no supper to come.
After dinner there We're games-blind mans buff,
hunt the slipper, and the llke-with much romping
and more or less kissing. A sprlg of mistletoe
was hung up in a convenient place, and If Il girl
happened to be kissed under 1t by a young man
she did not faint or call for help. In fact. 1t
might be suspected that she did not seriously OBJ
jcct.
Never, and nowhere, In this world were there
more capable and expert makers of love than the
young men of Washingtons day in old Virginia.
Nobody ever saw jollier fellows than they were.
If they loved tercely, they proved their sincerity
by marrying early and, when one Of them was
SO unfortunate as to lose his wife, he would in.
yariably 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 he imagined that on a festive
occasion such as this Christmas celebration Il
good deal of incidental love-makng, some of il
serious enough, was accomplished. But thl
Master of the Reyels, though he himself had beer
sufficiently ardent in his youth, was in later life
no eager sympathizer with such fonles.
Though Mr.. Washington took no part in the
romps that followed the dinner, he heartily en-
joyed the fun, Occasionally he relished a gam,
of cards, and probably on this Christmas evenin.
he INDUCED in some such amusement, in compan,
with the older people, while the young folk!
scampered and romped. He played for money
but the stakes were small. a.
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 Il
imagine the part they took in the romps on Christ
mas day, John and Martha, their names were
hut everybody knew them rs Jacky and Patsy
Patsy died In 1913, when just budding into won
anhood, while her brother married young, an,
had four children, two of whom, George and Mel
lie CustiS, were adopted by Mr.. Washington. T.
George he left the famous Arlington estate, oppo
site the city of Washington, which afterward
fell by inheritance to the wife Of Gen. Robert +
Lee.
On Christmas eve there was II dance, to whic
all the n%eighhorS for many miles around wer,
as a matter of course, invited, The party bega
before eight, and was over by ten o'clocl
Young ladies' beauty in those times was nc
spoiled by late hours. For music there was
single fiddle, played by an old slave on the plac
ii whitehaired negro who kept the time an
helped on the tune by pounding on the floor wit
his big foot.
All the young ladies wore low-necked dresse
making Il brave display of pretty shoulders, an
the men were In kneebreeches and silk stocking
Mrs. Washington's gown, cut V.Shaped and file
in with ruehing, was Of French silk; but tt
clothing she ordinarily wore was of domest
manufacture, being woven at Mount Vernon, whei
no fewer than sixteen rcr-o woman were kel