were as important characters in the department for furnishing game and wild fowl as Father Jack in that of fish. So vast were the numbers of the canvas-back duck on the Potomac in the ancient time, that a single discharge of Tom Davis's old British musket would procure as many of those delicious birds as would supply the larder for a week.

The year 1799 was in its last month. Washington had nearly completed his sixty-eighth year. The century was fast drawing to a close, and with it the great man's life. Yet the winter of his age had shed its snows so kindly upon him as to mellow without impairing his faculties, either physical or mental, and to give fair promise of additional length of days.

Nor was Washington unmindful of the sure progress of time, and of his liability to be called at any moment to "that bourne from which no traveller returns." He had for years kept a Will by him, and, after mature reflection, had so disposed of his large property as to be satisfactory to himself and to the many who were so fortunate and happy as to share in his testamentary remembrance.*

In the last days at Mount Vernon, desirous of riding pleasantly, the general procured from the North two horses of the Narraganset breed, celebrated as saddle horses. They were well to look at, and were pleasantly gaited under the saddle, but were scary, and therefore unfitted for the service of one who liked to ride quietly on his farm, occasionally dismounting and walking in his fields, to inspect his improvements. From one of these

*Washington's Will was drawn by himself, and is entirely in his own handwriting. It bears the date of July 9th, 1799, and at the bottom of each page his name is written.

horses the general sustained a heavy fall-probably the only fall he ever had from a horse in his life. It was in November, late in the evening. The general, accompanied by Major Lewis, Mr. Peake (a gentleman residing in the neighborhood), the author of these Recollections, and a groom, were returning from Alexandria to Mount Vernon. Having halted for a few moments, the general dismounted, and upon rising in his stirrup again, the Narraganset, alarmed at the glare from a fire near the road-side, sprang from under his rider, who came heavily to the ground. Our saddles were empty in an instant, and we rushed to give our assistance, fearing he was hurt. It was unnecessary. The vigorous old man was upon his feet again, brushing the dust from his clothes; and, after thanking us for our prompt assistance, observed that he was not hurt, that he had had a very complete tumble, and that it was owing to a cause that no horseman could well avoid or control; that he was only poised in his stirrup, and had not yet gained his saddle, when the scary animal sprang from under him. Meantime, all our horses had gone off at full speed. It was night, and over four miles were to be won ere we could reach our destination. The chief observed, that, as our horses had disappeared, it only remained for us to take it on foot, and with manly strides led the way. We had proceeded but a short distance on our march, as dismounted cavaliers, when our horses hove in sight. Happily for us, some of the servants of Mr. Peake, whose plantation was hard by, in returning home from their labor, encountered our flying steeds, captured them, and brought them to us. We were speedily remounted, and soon the lights at Mount Vernon were seen glimmering in the distance.

The sentinel placed on the watch-tower by Fate to guard the destinies of Washington, might have cried, "All's well!" during the last days at Mount Vernon. All was well. All things glided gently and prosperously down the stream of time, and all was progressive. Two blades of grass had been made to "grow where but one grew before," and a garden "bloomed where flowers had once grown wild."

The best charities of life were gathered around the Pater Patria in the last days at Mount Vernon. The love and veneration of a whole people for his illustrious services; his generous and untiring labors in the cause of public utility; his kindly demeanor to his family circle, his friends, and numerous dependants; his courteous and cordial hospitality to his guests, many of them strangers from far distant lands; these charities, all of which sprung from the heart, were the ornament of his declining years, and gave benignant radiance to his setting sun; and that scene, the most sublime in nature, where human greatness reposes on the bosom of human happiness, was to be admired on the banks of the Potomac in the last days at Mount Vernon.*

* A German gentleman in 1858, then eighty-four years of age, wrote as follows concerning pictures of the Washington family, which hung in his hall: "They vividly call to my mind the day-the proudest day of my life-that I passed upon the beautiful banks of the Potomac, in the family of the best and greatest personage that the world has ever produced. It was in May, 1798, now nearly sixty-one years ago. I was seated at his right hand at dinner, and I recollect as distinctly his maestic bearing as if it were yesterday. Though of mortality, his overpowering presence inspired an impression that he belonged to immortality. His stateliness, his erene face, the perfect simplicity of his manners, his modest demeanor, and the words of wisdom which he uttered, led me irresistibly to the belief that he was an emanation from the Omnipotent, for the marvellous work that he had just then consummated. It was my good fortune to contemplate him in his retirement- after he had left nothing undone that he could perform for the republic of his creation,

It pleased Providence to permit the beloved Washington to live to witness the fruition of his mighty labors in the cause of his country and mankind, while his success in the calm and honored pursuits of agriculture and rural affairs was grateful to his heart, and shed the most benign and happy influence upon the last days at Mount Vernon.

and after he had quitted office for ever! What a privilege I enjoyed in being his welcome guest! Of the 240,000,000 of people in Europe, I imagine I am the only person, since the death of Lafayette, who was so favored as to break bread and take wine with Washington at his own table."

CHAPTER XXIII.

OUTLINE LIFE-PICTURES.*

RECOLLECTIONS OF MOUNT VERNON -WASHINGTON GOING OUT TO THE WARS-HIS SERVICES IN THE FRENCH AND INDIAN Wars Battle of the MONONGAHELA — WASHington a BrideGROOM AND FARMER-GOES TO THE FIRST CONGRESS-APPOINTED TO THE CHIEF COMMAND OF THE ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES - VISITS MOUNT VERNON IN 1781 - RETIREMENT FROM THE ARMY-VISITERS AT MOUNT VERNON CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION-SECRETARY THOMSON AT MOUNT VERNON WASHINGTON DRAWN FROM HIS RETIREMENT TO BECOME CHIEF MAGISTRATE OF THE REPUBLIC-HIS FINAL RETIREMENT TO PRIVATE LIFE-APPOINTED COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE PROVISIONAL ARMY-ANECDOTE-WASHINGTON'S CAUTION -HIS DEATH.

How many and what glorious recollections crowd upon the mind at the mention of Mount Vernon! It is a name that will be hallowed to all time, and the foot of the pilgrim journeying from all nations will continue to press the turf around the sepulchre where rest the ashes of the Father of his Country. The associations in the history of this venerated spot, with those in the history of the life and actions of its departed master, will ever cause Mount Vernon to be "freshly remembered." These associations began with the early life of Washington, and ended only with his last days on earth. Mount Vernon was the home of his youth, the retreat of his advanced age, the spot that he most loved, and to which he so often retired to find repose from the cares and anxieties of public affairs. He never left it but with regret. He always returned to it with joy. Could the old halls of

* First published in the National Intelligencer, on the fourth of July, 1850.