Washington and the American Republic Part 42

"That you may have a more perfect idea of the landed property I have bequeathed to you and Nelly in my will, I transmit a plan of it, every part of which is correctly laid down and accurately measured, showing the number of fields, lots, meadows, &c., with the contents and relative situation of each; all of which, except the mill and swamp, which has never been considered as a part of Dogue-run farm, and is retained merely for the purpose of putting it into a better state of improvement, you may have on the terms before-mentioned.

"With every kind wish for you and Nelly, in which your aunt, who is still much indisposed, unites,

"I remain your affectionate uncle,

"GEO. WASHINGTON."

Little did any of the parties concerned then suppose that in less than three months the hand that penned this letter would be paralyzed by death; and that the Will, so lately written by that hand, would so soon call for executors.

During the autumn, Washington digested a complete system of management for his estate for several succeeding years, in which were tables designating the rotation of crops. The doc.u.ment occupied thirty folio pages, all written in his clear and peculiar style. It was completed only four days before his death, and was accompanied by a letter to James Anderson, the manager of his farms, dated on the same day (December 10th), in which he gave him some special directions, as if the master was about to depart on a journey. This appears the more singular, as Washington expected to reside at home, and exercise a personal supervision of the whole. In his letter to Anderson, Washington remarked:--

"Economy in all things is as commendable in the manager as it is beneficial and desirable to the employer; and, on a farm, it shows itself in nothing more evidently or more essentially than in not suffering any provender to be wasted, but, on the contrary, in taking care that every atom of it be used to the best advantage; and likewise in not permitting the ploughs, harness, and other implements of husbandry, and the gears belonging to them, to be unnecessarily exposed, trodden under foot, run over by carts, and abused in other respects. More good is derived from attending to the minutiae of a farm than strikes people at first view; and examining the farmyard fences, and looking into the fields to see that nothing is there but what is allowed to be there, is oftentimes the means of producing more good, or at least of avoiding more evil, than can be accomplished by riding from one working-party or overseer to another. I have mentioned these things, not only because they have occurred to me, but because, although apparently trifles, they prove far otherwise in the result."

During the year, Washington had conducted the preparations of the provisional army for the field almost wholly through the medium of letters. These were numerous and sometimes voluminous, and exhibit his constant watchfulness and care. One of his later letters to the secretary of war was in reference to a plan of Hamilton's for _hutting_ the troops then in the field; and the last letter which, it is believed, he ever wrote--having been penned on the day when he was attacked by fatal disease--was to General Hamilton, on a topic of public interest.

Hamilton had communicated to the secretary of war his views concerning the establishment of a military academy. A copy of this paper he transmitted to the commander-in-chief, with a request that he would give it his consideration. To this Washington replied:--

"The establishment of an inst.i.tution of this kind, upon a respectable and extensive basis, has ever been considered by me as an object of primary importance to this country; and, while I was in the chair of government, I omitted no proper opportunity of recommending it, in my public speeches and otherwise, to the attention of the legislature. But I never undertook to go into a detail of the organization of such an academy; leaving this task to others, whose pursuit in the path of science, and attention to the arrangement of such inst.i.tutions, had better qualified them for the execution of it. For the same reason, I must now decline making any observations on the details of your plan; and, as it has already been submitted to the secretary of war, through whom it will naturally be laid before Congress, it might be too late for alterations, if any should be suggested. I sincerely hope that the subject will meet with due attention, and that the reasons for its establishment, which you have so clearly pointed out in your letter to the secretary, will prevail upon the legislature to place it upon a permanent and respectable footing."

FOOTNOTES:

[130] The young man alluded to was the late George Washington Parke Custis, of Arlington House, Virginia, who lived to become the last surviving executor of Washington's will, and who died at his seat, on the tenth of October, 1857, when in the seventy-seventh year of his age.

Mr. Custis prepared for the press a series of articles concerning the public and private life of his foster-father, which the present writer arranged, annotated, and published, under the t.i.tle of "Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington, by his Adopted Son." In that work is given a series of letters, composing portions of a correspondence between Washington and young Custis, during the period when the latter was in college, first at Princeton, in New Jersey, and then at Annapolis, in Maryland. From Washington's letters the following extracts have been taken, to show the parental solicitude which he felt for this talented but somewhat wayward boy, who was the idol of his grandmother, Mrs. Washington:--

"PHILADELPHIA, _15th November, 1796._

"DEAR WASHINGTON: Yesterday's mail brought me your letter of the twelfth instant, and under cover of this letter you will receive a ten dollar bill, to purchase a gown, &c., if proper. But as the cla.s.ses may be distinguished by a different insignia, I advise you not to provide these without first obtaining the approbation of your tutors; otherwise you may be distinguished more by folly than by the dress.

"It affords me pleasure to hear that you are agreeably fixed; and I receive still more from the a.s.surance you give of attending closely to your studies. It is you yourself who is to derive immediate benefit from these. Your country may do it hereafter. The more knowledge you acquire, the greater will be the probability of your succeeding in both, and the greater will be your thirst for more.

"I rejoice to hear you went through your examination with propriety, and have no doubt but that the president has placed you in the cla.s.s which he conceived best adapted to the present state of your improvement. The more there are above you, the greater your exertions should be to ascend; but let your promotion result from your own application, and from intrinsic merit, not from the labors of others. The last would prove fallacious, and expose you to the reproach of the daw in borrowed feathers. This would be inexcusable in you, because there is no occasion for it, forasmuch as you need nothing but the exertion of the talents you possess, with proper directions, to acquire all that is necessary; and the hours allotted for study, if properly improved, will enable you to do this. Although the confinement may feel irksome at first, the advantages resulting from it, to a reflecting mind, will soon overcome it.

"Endeavor to conciliate the good will of _all_ your fellow-students, rendering them every act of kindness in your power. Be particularly obliging and attentive to your chamber-mate, Mr. Forsyth; who, from the account I have of him, is an admirable young man, and strongly impressed with the importance of a liberal and finished education. But, above all, be obedient to your tutors, and in a particular manner respect the president of the seminary, who is both learned and good.

"For any particular advantages you may derive from the attention and aid of Mr. Forsyth, I shall have a disposition to reward. One thing more, and I will close this letter. Never let an indigent person ask, without receiving _something_, if you have the means; always recollecting in what light the widow's mite was viewed."

PHILADELPHIA, _Nov_. 28, 1796.

"The a.s.surances you give me of applying diligently to your studies, and fulfilling those obligations which are enjoined by your Creator and due to his creatures, are highly pleasing and satisfactory to me. I rejoice in it on two accounts: first, as it is the sure means of laying the foundation of your own happiness, and rendering you, if it should please G.o.d to spare your life, a useful member of society hereafter: and, secondly, that I may, if I live to enjoy the pleasure, reflect that I have been, in some degree, instrumental in effecting these purposes.

"You are now extending into that stage of life when good or bad habits are formed; when the mind will be turned to things useful and praiseworthy, or to dissipation and vice. Fix on whichever it may, it will stick by you; for you know it has been said, and truly, that 'as the twig is bent so it will grow.' This, in a strong point of view, shows the propriety of letting your inexperience be directed by maturer advice, and in placing guard upon the avenues which lead to idleness and vice. The latter will approach like a thief, working upon your pa.s.sions--encouraged, perhaps, by bad examples--the propensity to which will increase in proportion to the practice of it, and your yielding. This admonition proceeds from the purest affection for you; but I do not mean by it that you are to become a stoic, or to deprive yourself, in the intervals of study, of any recreations or manly exercise which reason approves.

"'Tis well to be on good terms with all your fellow-students, and I am pleased to hear you are so; but while a courteous behavior is due to all, select the most deserving only for your friendships, and, before this becomes intimate, weigh their dispositions and character _well_. True friendship is a plant of slow growth; to be sincere, there must be a congeniality of temper and pursuits.

Virtue and vice can not be allied; nor can idleness and industry.

Of course, if you resolve to adhere to the two former of these extremes, an intimacy with those who incline to the latter of them would be extremely embarra.s.sing to you: it would be a stumbling-block in your way, and act like a millstone hung to your neck, for it is the nature of idleness and vice to obtain as many votaries as they can.

"I would guard you, too, against imbibing hasty and unfavorable impressions of any one. Let your judgment always balance well before you decide; and even then, where there is no occasion for expressing an opinion, it is best to be silent, for there is nothing more certain than that it is at all times more easy to make enemies than friends. And besides, to speak evil of any one, unless there are unequivocal proofs of their deserving it, is an injury for which there is no adequate reparation. For, as Shakespeare says, 'He that robs me of my good name enriches not himself, but renders me poor indeed,' or words to that effect. Keep in mind that scarcely any change would be agreeable to you at _first_, from the sudden transition, and from never having been accustomed to shift or rough it; and, moreover, that if you meet with collegiate fare, it will be unmanly to complain. My paper reminds me it is time to conclude."

"MOUNT VERNON, 4_th June_, 1797.

"Your letter of the twenty-ninth ultimo came to hand by the post of Friday, and eased my mind of many unpleasant sensations and reflections on your account. It has, indeed, done more--it has filled it with pleasure more easy to be conceived than expressed; and if your sorrow and repentance for the disquietude occasioned by the preceding letter--your resolution to abandon the ideas which were therein expressed--are sincere, I shall not only heartily forgive, but will forget also, and bury in oblivion all that has pa.s.sed....

"You must not suffer the resolution you have recently entered into, to operate as the mere result of a momentary impulse, occasioned by the letters you have received from hence. This resolution should be founded on sober reflection, and a thorough conviction of your error; otherwise it will be as wavering as the wind, and become the sport of conflicting pa.s.sions, which will occasion such a la.s.situde in your exertions as to render your studies of little avail. To insure permanency, think seriously of the advantages which are to be derived, on the one hand, from the steady pursuit of a course of study to be marked out by your preceptor, whose judgment, experience, and acknowledged abilities, enables him to direct them; and, on the other hand, revolve as seriously on the consequences which would inevitably result from an indisposition to this measure, or from an idle habit of hankering after unprofitable amus.e.m.e.nts at your time of life, before you have acquired that knowledge which would be found beneficial in every situation--I say _before_, because it is not my wish that, having gone through the essentials, you should be deprived of any rational amus.e.m.e.nt _afterward_; or, lastly, from dissipation in such company as you would most likely meet under such circ.u.mstances, who but too often mistake ribaldry for wit, and rioting, swearing, intoxication, and gambling, for manliness."

Young Custis was placed in the college at Annapolis in the spring of 1798, when Washington wrote to Mr. M'Dowell, the president, as follows:--

"Mr. Custis possesses competent talents to fit him for any studies, but they are counteracted by an indolence of mind which renders it difficult to draw them into action. Doctor Stuart having been an attentive observer of this, I shall refer you to him for the development of the causes, while justice from me requires I should add, that I know of no vice to which this inertness can be attributed. From drinking and gaming he is perfectly free; and if he has a propensity to any other impropriety, it is hidden from me.

He is generous, and regardful of truth.

"As his family, fortune, and talents (if the latter can be improved), give him just pretensions to become a useful member of society in the councils of his country, his friends, and none more than myself, are extremely desirous that his education should be liberal, polished, and suitable for this end."

Young Custis did not remain long at Annapolis. He was now eighteen years of age, and his mind was filled with visions of military glory. He received the appointment of cornet of horse, early in January, 1799, and was soon afterward promoted to the position of aid-de-camp to General Pinckney. As the army was not called to the field, he remained at Mount Vernon, awaiting orders. Meanwhile, Washington endeavored to keep him engaged in his studies, but with little success, as appears by the following extract from a letter to Doctor Stuart, young Custis's stepfather, written on the twenty-second of January, 1799, soon after the cornet received his appointment:--

"DEAR SIR: Washington leaves this to-day on a visit to Hope Park, which will afford you an opportunity to examine the progress he has made in the studies he was directed to pursue.

"I can, and I believe I do, keep him in his room a certain portion of the twenty-four hours, but it will be impossible for me to make him attend to his books if inclination on his part is wanting; nor, while I am out, if he chooses to be so, is it in my power to prevent it. I will not say this is the case, nor will I run the hazard of doing him injustice, by saying he does not apply as he ought to what has been prescribed; but no risk will be run, and candor requires I should declare it as my opinion that he will not derive much benefit in any course which can be marked out for him at this place, without an _able_ preceptor always with him. I believe Washington means well, but has not resolution to act well."

For the entire correspondence alluded to, and a vast amount of information concerning the private life of Washington, the reader is referred to Custis's _Recollections and Private Memoirs_ of the Father of his Country.

[131] Lossing's _Mount Vernon and its a.s.sociations_, page 313.

[132] Ib., page 314.

[133] The original chart of this survey, made by Washington's own hand, is preserved by the daughter of Mr. Custis (Mrs. Colonel Robert E. Lee), at Arlington House. A _facsimile_ of it is published in Custis's _Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington_.

[134] The following is a true copy of Washington's will:--

IN THE NAME OF G.o.d, AMEN. I, GEORGE WASHINGTON, of Mount Vernon, a citizen of the United States, and lately President of the same, do make, ordain, and declare this instrument, which is written with my own hand, and every page thereof subscribed with my name, to be my last WILL AND TESTAMENT, revoking all others.

_Imprimis._--All my debts, of which there are but few, and none of magnitude, are to be punctually and speedily paid; and the legacies, hereinafter bequeathed, are to be discharged as soon as circ.u.mstances will permit, and in the manner directed.

_Item._--To my dearly beloved wife, _Martha Washington_, I give and bequeath the use, profit, and benefit of my whole estate, real and personal, for the term of her natural life, except such parts thereof as are specially disposed of hereafter. My improved lot in the town of Alexandria, situated on Pitt and Cameron streets, I give to her and her heirs for ever; as I also do my household and kitchen furniture of every sort and kind, with the liquors and groceries which may be on hand at the time of my decease, to be used and disposed of as she may think proper.

_Item._--Upon the decease of my wife, it is my will and desire that all the slaves whom I hold _in my own right_ shall receive their freedom. To emanc.i.p.ate them during her life would, though earnestly wished by me, be attended with such insuperable difficulties, on account of their intermixture by marriage with the dower-negroes, as to excite the most painful sensations, if not disagreeable consequences, to the latter, while both descriptions are in the occupancy of the same proprietor; it not being in my power, under the tenure by which the dower-negroes are held, to manumit them.[137] And whereas, among those who will receive freedom according to this devise, there may be some who, from old age or bodily infirmities, and others who, on account of their infancy, will be unable to support themselves, it is my will and desire that all, who come under the first and second description, shall be comfortably clothed and fed by my heirs while they live; and that such of the latter description as have no parents living, or, if living, are unable or unwilling to provide for them, shall be bound by the court until they shall arrive at the age of twenty-five years; and, in cases where no record can be produced, whereby their ages can be ascertained, the judgment of the court, upon its own view of the subject, shall be adequate and final. The negroes thus bound are (by their masters or mistresses) to be taught to read and write, and to be brought up to some useful occupation, agreeably to the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, providing for the support of orphan and other poor children.

And I do hereby expressly forbid the sale or transportation out of the said Commonwealth, of any slave I may die possessed of, under any pretence whatsoever. And I do, moreover, most pointedly and most solemnly enjoin it upon my executors hereafter named, or the survivors of them, to see that this clause respecting slaves, and every part thereof, be religiously fulfilled at the epoch at which it is directed to take place, without evasion, neglect, or delay, after the crops which may then be on the ground are harvested, particularly as it respects the aged and infirm; seeing that a regular and permanent fund be established for their support, as long as there are subjects requiring it; not trusting to the uncertain provision to be made by individuals. And to my mulatto man, _William_, calling himself _William Lee_, I give immediate freedom, or, if he should prefer it (on account of the accidents which have befallen him, and which have rendered him incapable of walking, or of any active employment), to remain in the situation he now is, it shall be optional in him to do so; in either case, however, I allow him an annuity of thirty dollars, during his natural life, which shall be independent of the victuals and clothes he has been accustomed to receive, if he chooses the last alternative; but in full with his freedom, if he prefers the first; and this I give him, as a testimony of my sense of his attachment to me, and for his faithful services during the Revolutionary War.

_Item._--To the trustees (governors, or by whatsoever other name they may be designated) of the Academy in the town of Alexandria, I give and bequeath, in trust, four thousand dollars, or, in other words, twenty of the shares which I hold in the Bank of Alexandria, toward the support of a free school, established at, and annexed to, the said Academy, for the purpose of educating such orphan children, or the children of such other poor and indigent persons, as are unable to accomplish it with their own means, and who, in the judgment of the trustees of the said seminary, are best ent.i.tled to the benefit of this donation. The aforesaid twenty shares I give and bequeath in perpetuity; the dividends only of which are to be drawn for and applied, by the said trustees for the time being, for the uses above mentioned; the stock to remain entire and untouched, unless indications of failure of the said bank should be so apparent, or a discontinuance thereof, should render a removal of this fund necessary. In either of these cases, the amount of the stock here devised is to be vested in some other bank, or public inst.i.tution, whereby the interest may with regularity and certainty be drawn and applied as above. And to prevent misconception, my meaning is, and is hereby declared to be, that these twenty shares are in lieu of, and not in addition to, the thousand pounds given by a missive letter some years ago, in consequence whereof an annuity of fifty pounds has since been paid toward the support of this inst.i.tution.

_Item._--Whereas, by a law of the Commonwealth of Virginia, enacted in the year 1785, the Legislature thereof was pleased, as an evidence of its approbation of the services I had rendered the public during the Revolution, and partly, I believe, in consideration of my having suggested the vast advantages which the community would derive from the extension of its inland navigation under legislative patronage, to present me with one hundred shares, of one hundred dollars each, in the incorporated Company, established for the purpose of extending the navigation of James River from the tide-water to the mountains; and also with fifty shares, of 100 sterling each, in the corporation of another Company, likewise established for the similar purpose of opening the navigation of the River Potomac from the tide-water to Fort c.u.mberland; the acceptance of which, although the offer was highly honorable and grateful to my feelings, was refused, as inconsistent with a principle which I had adopted, and had never departed from, viz., not to receive pecuniary compensation for any services I could render my country in its arduous struggle with Great Britain for its rights, and because I had evaded similar propositions from other States in the Union; adding to this refusal, however, an intimation that, if it should be the pleasure of the Legislature to permit me to appropriate the said shares to _public uses_, I would receive them on those terms with due sensibility; and this it having consented to, in flattering terms, as will appear by a subsequent law, and sundry resolutions, in the most ample and honorable manner;--I proceed after this recital, for the more correct understanding of the case, to declare; that, as it has always been a source of serious regret with me, to see the youth of these United States sent to foreign countries for the purpose of education, often before their minds were formed, or they had imbibed any adequate ideas of the happiness of their own; contracting too frequently, not only habits of dissipation and extravagance, but principles unfriendly to republican government, and to the true and genuine liberties of mankind, which thereafter are rarely overcome; for these reasons it has been my ardent wish to see a plan devised, on a liberal scale, which would have a tendency to spread systematic ideas through all parts of this rising empire, thereby to do away local attachments and State prejudices, as far as the nature of things would, or indeed ought to admit, from our national councils. Looking anxiously forward to the accomplishment of so desirable an object as this is (in my estimation), my mind has not been able to contemplate any plan more likely to effect the measure, than the establishment of a University in a central part of the United States, to which the youths of fortune and talents from all parts thereof may be sent for the completion of their education, in all the branches of polite literature, in arts and sciences, in acquiring knowledge in the principles of politics and good government, and, as a matter of infinite importance in my judgment, by a.s.sociating with each other, and forming friendships in juvenile years, be enabled to free themselves in a proper degree from those local prejudices and habitual jealousies which have just been mentioned, and which, when carried to excess, are never-failing sources of disquietude to the public mind, and pregnant of mischievous consequences to this country. Under these impressions, so fully dilated--

_Item._--I give and bequeath, in perpetuity, the fifty shares which I hold in the Potomac company (under the aforesaid acts of the Legislature of Virginia), toward the endowment of a University, to be established within the limits of the District of Columbia, under the auspices of the general government, if that government should incline to extend a fostering hand toward it; and, until such seminary is established, and the funds arising on these shares shall be required for its support, my further will and desire is, that the profit accruing therefrom shall, whenever the dividends are made, be laid out in purchasing stock in the Bank of Columbia, or some other bank, at the discretion of my executors, or by the Treasurer of the United States for the time being, under the direction of Congress, provided that honorable body should patronize the measure; and the dividends proceeding from the purchase of such stock are to be vested in more stock, and so on, until a sum adequate to the accomplishment of the object is obtained; of which I have not the smallest doubt before many years pa.s.s away, even if no aid or encouragement is given by the legislative authority, or from any other source.

_Item._--The hundred shares, which I hold in the James River Company, I have given, and now confirm in perpetuity, to and for the use and benefit of Liberty Hall Academy, in the County of Rockbridge, in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

_Item._--I release, exonerate, and discharge the estate of my deceased brother, _Samuel Washington_, from the payment of the money which is due to me for the land I sold to _Philip Pendleton_ (lying in the county of Berkeley), who a.s.signed the same to him, the said _Samuel_, who by agreement was to pay me therefor. And whereas, by some contract (the purport of which was never communicated to me) between the said _Samuel_ and his son, _Thornton Washington_, the latter became possessed of the aforesaid land, without any conveyance having pa.s.sed from me, either to the said _Pendleton_, the said _Samuel_, or the said _Thornton_, and without any consideration having been made, by which neglect neither the legal nor equitable t.i.tle has been alienated; it rests therefore with me to declare my intentions concerning the premises; and these are, to give and bequeath the said land to whomsoever the said _Thornton Washington_ (who is also dead) devised the same, or to his heirs for ever, if he died intestate; exonerating the estate of the said _Thornton_, equally with that of the said _Samuel_, from payment of the purchase money, which, with interest, agreeably to the original contract with the said _Pendleton_, would amount to more than a thousand pounds. And whereas two other sons of my said deceased brother _Samuel_, namely, _George Steptoe Washington_ and _Lawrence Augustine Washington_, were, by the decease of those to whose care they were committed, brought under my protection, and, in consequence, have occasioned advances on my part, for their education at college and other schools, for their board, clothing, and other incidental expenses, to the amount of near five thousand dollars, over and above the sums furnished by their estate, which sum it may be inconvenient for them or their father's estate to refund; I do for these reasons acquit them and the said estate from the payment thereof, my intention being, that all accounts between them and me, and their father's estate and me, shall stand balanced.

_Item._--The balance due to me from the estate of _Bartholomew Dandridge_, deceased (my wife's brother), and which amounted on the first day of October, 1795, to four hundred and twenty-five pounds (as will appear by an account rendered by his deceased son, _John Dandridge_, who was the acting executor of his father's will), I release and acquit from the payment thereof. And the negroes, then thirty-three in number, formerly belonging to the said estate, who were taken in execution, sold, and purchased in on my account, in the year (_blank_), and ever since have remained in the possession and to the use of _Mary_, widow of the said _Bartholomew Dandridge_, with their increase, it is my will and desire shall continue and be in her possession, without paying hire, or making compensation for the same for the time past, or to come, during her natural life; at the expiration of which, I direct that all of them who are forty years old and upward shall receive their freedom; and all under that age, and above sixteen, shall serve seven years and no longer; and all under sixteen years shall serve until they are twenty-five years of age, and then be free. And, to avoid disputes respecting the ages of any of these negroes, they are to be taken into the court of the county in which they reside, and the judgment thereof, in this relation, shall be final, and record thereof made, which may be adduced as evidence at any time thereafter, if disputes should arise concerning the same. And I further direct, that the heirs of the said _Bartholomew Dandridge_ shall equally share the benefits arising from the services of the said negroes, according to the tenor of this devise, upon the decease of their mother.