Evening star., 1932-02-28


Republic.
Twice invested with Supreme Mag
istracy
BY the Unanimous Voice Of Free
People,
He surpassed in the Cabinet
The Glories OF the Field.
And voluntarily resigning the Sceptre
and the Sword.
Retired to the Shades of Private Life.
Was contemplated with the profound
est Admiration;
And the Name of Washington,
Adding new Lustre to Humanity,
Resounded to the remotest regions Of
the Earth.
Magnanimous in Youth,
Glorious through Life,
Great in Death,
His highest Ambition, the Happiness Of
Mankind;
His Noblest Victory, the Conquest of
Himself.
Beoueathing to Posterity the Inheri-
tance of his Fame,
And building his Monument in the
Hearts Of his Countrymen,
He lived the Ornament of the Eight
eenth Century,
He died regretted by a mourning
World"
There Is something profoundly i'm
preSsiye about this eulogy, composed in
the style of another century, a CEN
tury not as staccato as our own;
something mellow and old and gracious,
something that fits in harmoniously
Vernon.
- 10
One of the early biographers Of
Gusts, then Mrs. Lewis, asking for
a statement regarding the religious
opinions and habits Of Gen. Washington.
The reply of Washington's adopted
daughter is at once valuable and deeply
interesting.
'Woodlawn, 26 February, 1888.
"Sir: received your favor OF the
goth instant last evening, and hasten
to give you the information which you
desire.
Truro parish is the one in which
Mount Vernon, Pohick Church and
Woodlawn are situated. Fairfax
parish is now Alexandria. Before the
Federal district was ceded to Congress,
Alexandria was in Fairfax County.
Gen. Washington had a pew in Pohick
Sk4u4I h1lQ OllC AL OLl4 Ack SllulI
Alexandria. He was very instrumental
believe subscribed largely. His pew
was near the pulpit. have a perfect
recollection Of being there, before his
election to the presidency, with him
and my grandmother. 1t was a beauti-
ful church, and had large, respectable,
and wealthy congregation, who were
regular attendants.
He attended the church at Alexan-
dria, when the weather and roads
permitted a ride of 10 miles. In New
York and Philadelphia he never omitted
attendance at church in the morning,
unless detained by tndisposition. The
afternoon was spent in his own room
at home; the evening with his family,
and without company. Sometimes an old
and intimate friend called to see us for
an hour or two; but visiting and visitors
were prohibited for that day. No one
in church attended to the service with
more reverential respect. My grand
mother, who was eminently pious, never
deviated from her early habits She
always knelt. The general, as was then
the custom, stood during the devotional
parts of the service. On communion
Sundays he left the church with me,
after the blessing, and returned home,
and We sent the carriage back for my
grandmother
"It was his custom to retire to his
library at or 10 o'clock, where he
remained an hour before he went to his
chamber. He always rose before the
sun and remained in his library until
called to breakfast. I never witnessed
his private devotions. I never inquired
about them. should have thought it
the greatest heresy to doubt his firm
belief in Christianity. His life, his
writings, prove that he was a Christian.
He was not one of those who act or
He communed with God in secret.
my mother resided two years at
Mount Vernon after her marriage with
John Parke Gusts, the only son Of
Mrs. Washington. I have heard her
say that Gen. Washington always re-
ceived the sacrament with my grand
mother before the Revolution. When
my aunt, Miss Gusts, died suddenly
at Mount Vernon, before they could
realize the event he Eznelt by her and
prayed most fervently, most affect
ingly for her recovery. OF this was
assured by Judge Washingtons moth
er and other witnesses.
HE was a silent, thoughtful man
He spoke little generally; never of
himself I never heard him relate a
single act of his life during the war.
I have often seen him perfectly alb
stracted, his lips moving, but no sound
was perceptible. have sometimes
made him laugh most heartily from
sympathy with my joyous and extrava-
CANT spirits. I was probably one of
the last persons on earth to whom he
would hoUn addroccoI
sation, particularly when he knew that I
had the most perfect model of female
excellence ever with me as my moni-
tresS, who acted the part of a tender
and devoted parent, loving me as only
a mother can love, and never extern
uating or approving in me what she
disapproVed in others. She never
omitted her private devotions or her
public duties, and she and her hus-
band were so perfectly united and
happy that he must have been q
Christian. She had no doubts, no
fears for him. After 40 years of de-
voted affection and uninterrupted hap
piness she resigned him without a
murmer into the arms of his Savior
and his God, with the assured hope Of
that any one should certify Gen.
Washington avowed himself to me a
believer in Christianity?' As well may
we question his patriotism, his heroic,
disinterested devotion to his country.
His notices were Deeds, Not Words
and For God and My Country
with sentiments Of esteem,
'rI am, etc."
This clear-cut pen portraiture of
both Gen. and Mrs. Washington has
a special charm in this Ricentennial
year. flashing up as it DOB from the
yellow pages Of venerable volume,
and yet retaining all the sparkling
freshness and sweetness characteristic
of the 'little girl whom Washington so
dearly loved" Nellie Gusts, "the dar-
ling Of Mount Vernon"