obtained at different times. To the management of his extensive private affairs his thoughts were now turned. He also took upon himself the guardianship of Mrs. Washington's two children, and the care of their property, which trust he discharged with all the faithfulness and assiduity of a father, till the son became of age, and till the daughter died in her nineteenth year. This union was in every respect felicitous. It continued forty years. To her intimate acquaintances and to the nation, the character of Mrs. Washington was ever a theme of praise. Affable and courteous, exemplary in her deportment, remarkable for her deeds of charity and piety, unostentatious and without vanity, she adorned by her domestic virtues the sphere of private life, and filled with dignity every station in which she was placed.*

While engaged in the last campaign, Colonel Washington had been elected a representative to the House of Burgesses, in Virginia, from Frederic County. Having determined to quit the military line, and being yet inclined to serve his country in a civil capacity, this choice of the people was peculiarly gratifying to him. As this was the first time he had been proposed for the popular suffrages, his friends urged him to leave the army for a few days, and repair to Winchester, where the election was to be held. But, regarding his duties in the field as outweighing every other consideration, he remained at his post, and the election was carried without his personal solicitation or influence. There were four candidates, and he was chosen by a large majority over all his competitors. The success was beyond his most sanguine anticipations.

One of his friends wrote to him immediately after

* A Memoir of this lady, written by her grandson, G. W. P. Custis, is contained in the first volume of the American Portrait Gallery.