was a deliberate purpose with him, the result of innate and enduring inclinations. Throughout the whole. course of his career agricultural life appears to have been his beau ideal of existence, which haunted his thoughts even amid the stern duties of the field, and to which he recurred with unflagging interest whenever enabled to indulge his natural bias.

Mount Vernon was his harbor of repose, where he repeatedly furled his sails and fancied himself anchored. for life. No impulse of ambition tempted him thence; nothing but the call of his country, and his devotion to the public good. The place was endeared to him by the remembrance of his brother Lawrence, and of the happy days he had passed with that brother in the days of boyhood; but it was a delightful place in itself, and well calculated to inspire the rural feeling. The mansion was beautifully situated on a swelling height, crowned with wood, and commanding a magnificent view up and down the Potomac. The grounds immediately about it were laid out somewhat in the English taste. The estate was apportioned into separate farms, devoted to different kinds of culture, each having its allotted laborers. Much, however, was still covered with wild wood, seamed with deep dells and runs of water, and indented with inlets-haunts of deer and lurking-places of foxes. The whole woody region along the Potomac from Mount Vernon to Belvoir, and far beyond, with its range of forests and hills and picturesque promontories, afforded sports of various kinds, and was a noble hunting-ground. "No estate in Vir

ginia," observes he in one of his letters, "is more pleasantly situated. In a high and healthy country; in a latitude between the extremes of heat and cold; on one of the finest rivers in the world-a river well stocked with fish at all seasons of the year, and in the spring with shad, herrings, bass, carp, sturgeon, etc., in great abundance. The borders of the estate are washed by more than ten miles of tide-water. Several valuable fisheries appertain to it; the whole shore, in fact, is one entire fishery."

These were as yet the aristocratical days of Virginia. The estates were large, and continued in the same families by entails. Many of the wealthy planters were

connected with old families in England. The young men, especially the elder sons, were often sent to finish their education there. The governors of Virginia were from the higher ranks of society, and maintained a corresponding state. The "Established," or Episcopal Church, predominated throughout the "Ancient Dominion," as it was termed. Each county was divided into parishes, as in England-each with its parochial church, its parsonage, and glebe. Washington was vestryman of two parishes-Fairfax and Truro; the parochial church of the former was at Alexandria, ten miles from Mount Vernon of the latter at Pohick, about seven miles. The church at Pohick was rebuilt on a plan of his own, and in a great measure at his cxpense. At one or other of these churches he attended every Sunday when the weather and the roads permitted. His demeanor was reverential and devout. Mrs. Washington knelt during the prayers; he always stood, as was the custom at that time. Both were communicants.

A style of living prevailed among the opulent Virginian families in those days that has long since faded away. The houses were spacious, commodious, liberal in all their appointments, and fitted to cope with the free-handed, open-hearted liberality of their owners. Nothing was more common than to see handsome services of plate, elegant equipages, and superb carriage-horses all imported from England. The Virginians have always been noted for their love of horses

a manly passion which, in those days of opulence, they indulged without regard to expense. The rich planters vied with each other in their studs, importing the best English stocks. Mention is made of one of the Randolphs of Tuckahoe, who built a stable for his favorite dapple-gray horse, Shakespeare, with a recess for the bed of the negro groom, who always slept beside him at night.

Washington by his marriage had added above one hundred thousand dollars to his already considerable fortune, and was enabled to live in ample and dignified style. His intimacy with the Fairfaxes, and his intercourse with British officers of rank, had perhaps had their influence on his mode of living. He had his chariot-and-four, with black postilions in livery, for the

use of Mrs. Washington and her lady visitors. As for himself, he always appeared on horseback. His stable was well filled and admirably regulated. His stud was thoroughbred and in excellent order. His household books contain registers of the names, ages, and marks of his various horses; such as Ajax, Blueskin, Valiant, Magnolia (an Arab), etc. Also his dogs, chiefly foxhounds-Vulcan, Singer, Ringwood, Sweet-lips, Forrester, Music, Rockwood, Truelove, etc.

He was an early riser-often before daybreak in the winter, when the nights were long. On such occasions. he lit his own fire, and wrote or read by candle-light. He breakfasted at seven in summer, at eight in winter. Two small cups of tea and three or four cakes of Indian meal (called hoe-cakes), formed his frugal repast. Immediately after breakfast he mounted his horse and visited those parts of his estate where any work was going on, seeing to everything with his own eyes, and often aiding with his own hand. Dinner was served at two o'clock. He ate heartily, but was no epicure, nor critical about his food. His beverage was small beer or cider, and two glasses of old Madeira. He took tea, of which he was very fond, early in the evening, and retired for the night about nine o'clock.

If confined to the house by bad weather, he took that occasion to arrange his papers, post up his accounts, or write letters, passing part of his time in reading, and occasionally reading aloud to the family. He treated his negroes with kindness; attended to their comforts; was particularly careful of them in sickness, but never tolerated idleness; and exacted a faithful performance of all their allotted tasks.

Occasionally he and Mrs. Washington would pay a visit to Annapolis, at that time the seat of government of Maryland, and partake of the gayeties which prevailed during the session of the Legislature. The society of these seats of provincial governments was always polite and fashionable, and more exclusive than in these republican days-being, in a manner, the outposts of the English aristocracy, where all places of dignity or profit were secured for younger sons and poor but proud relatives. During the session of the Legislature, dinners and balls abounded, and there were occasional attempts

at theatricals.

The latter was an amusement for which Washington always had a relish, though he never had an opportunity of gratifying it effectually. Neither was he disinclined to mingle in the dance; and we remember to have heard venerable ladies-who had been belles in their days-pride themselves on having had him for a partner, though, they added, he was apt to be a ceremonious and grave one.

In this round of rural occupations and rural amusements, and social intercourse Washington passed several tranquil years-the halcyon period of his life. His already established reputation drew many visitors to Mount Vernon. Some of his early companions in arms were his occasional guests, and his friendships and connections linked him with some of the most prominent and worthy people of the country, who were sure to be received with cordial but simple and unpretending hospitality. His marriage was unblessed with children; but those of Mrs. Washington experienced from him parental care and affection, and the formation of 'their minds and manners was one of the dearest objects of his attention. His domestic concerns and social enjoyments, however, were not permitted to interfere with his public duties. He was active by nature, and eminently a man of business by habit, and whatever trust he undertook, he was sure to fulfil it with scrupulous. exactness.

About this time we find him engaged, with other men of enterprise, in a project to drain the great Dismal Swamp, and render it capable of cultivation. This vast morass was about thirty miles long and ten miles wide, and its interior but little known. With his usual zeal and hardihood he explored it on horseback and on foot. In many parts it was covered with dark and gloomy woods of cedar, cypress, and hemlock, or deciduous trees, the branches of which were hung with long, drooping moss. Other parts were almost inaccessible from the density of brakes and thickets, entangled with vines, briers, and creeping plants, and intersected by creeks and standing pools. Occasionally the soil, composed of dead vegetable fibre, was over his horse's fetlocks; and sometimes he had to dismount and make his way on foot over a quaking bog that shook beneath his tread. VOL. XIV.-21