Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1922-04-22
REAL WASHINGTON
INTENSELY HUMAN
BY NO MEANS THE DEMiGOD HE
HAS BEEN DEPICTED.
Admittedly of Violent Temper, but
With Strong Powers of Self-Con-
trol-NaturaIiy Melancholy.

the Rather of His country Would
hardly have fancied himself in the role
| of demigod-as folks nowadays are
disposed to regard him. He was very
human.
When young man, his hair was de-
cidedly red. At the age of fifty he
WIS quite gray, and on occasions of
ceremony his locks (dOne up in a
queue) were freely powdered, as was
! the custom of the day.
His teeth from early manhood gave
him a great deal of trouble They were,
In fact, badly decayed-dentistry at
| that period being an undeveioped art
and this circumstance rather married
his good looks when he smiled or
laughed.
He was also considerably peck
marked. having suffered an attack of
smallpox at nineteen years of age,
| while in Barbados with his invalid
| brother. Those were days when most
| people had smallpox sooner or later,
vaccination being as yet unthought of.
AT fifty-seven (when inaugurated as
President in New York;, he had lost
nearly all of his teeth. He then wore
| false set Of hippopotamus ivory,
| which made him very uncomfortable.
| IN sitting for his most famous pOr-
trait, painted by Gilbert Stuart, his
lips were padded out with a wad of
| cotton.
He seems to have had little sense
of humor. and unquestionably was of
a most melancholy temperament The
| dinners he gave in New York were
described by his guests as dull affairs.
AS rule, he sat silent, rather sad Of
visage, and taking little part in the
| conversation. While others talked he
would keep tap-tapping on the table
| edge with fork or spOon-a curious
habit he had,
| He had pronounced weakness for
| gambling-though. always held In
check by reluctance to commit him
self imprudently, A born Spectator,
he was constantly engaged in land
| deals, He subscribed to every lottery
and rattle that came along, and would
spend many hours at stretch with a
| pack of cards. though usually loser.
To attend and bet on horse race, he
often went to Annapolis, or even as
far as Philadelphia.
Spelling was by no means his forte.
| To the end of his life he wrote twin
der" for window, "latten" for Latin,
etc. Nor is this surprising, inasmuch
as his education was finished in vii
lage school. The style of his penman-
ship, so neat and clear, FOLLOWED the
stereotyped copies of the "foung
Mans Companion" which was the
guide Of his boyhood.
At Mount Vernon he had very de-
cent collection Of books, but his read
ing seems to have been restricted
mainly to works on farming and mill
tary science. How he managed to
evolve the classic literary style that
marks his public and private writings
is puzzle not easy to solve.
The discussion here attempted, how
ever, Is not Of Washlngton's many per-
fections, but of his human weaknesses
to show that, like the rest of us,
he was far from godllke. This most
admirable of men had certainly ter
rifle temper. He could swear on Oc-
casions with alarming emphasis. A
story, we'll authenticated, Is that he
pitilessly beat an Alexandria butcher
with horsewhip because the meat
! merchant had exposed for sale deer
that was recognized by the masteriof
Mount Vernon as killed an his own
/ plantation.
In 1850, q few months after his mar
rage he wrote: Il am now, | believe
fixed at this seat, with an agreeable
partner for life; and l hope to find
more happiness in retirement than l
have ever experienced amidst the wide
and bustling WORLD
Note, II yNu please, that Washington
was then oily twenty-seven years old.
Yet his attitude Of mind was elderly,
with touch of sadness.
On his return to Mount Vernon,
after the war, he wrote to Lafayette ::
Il called to mind that l was now de-
scending the hill had been fifty-two
years In climbing, and that, though
blessed with a good constitution, !
was Of . short-lived family, and might
soon expect to be entombed in the man
sion of my fathers, But | will not re-