  After the plan of allowing him to enter the English service as a naval cadet had been abandoned, George continued his attendance at school with the intention of preparing himself to become a surveyor. Until the completion of his fifteenth year he applied himself to these studies, principally geometry and trigonometry. During his last Summer at school he made surveys of the fields and meadows belonging to the schoolhouse, and also of the neighboring plantations. This business, which was only practice for him, he carried on as conscientiously as though he were obliged to take an oath as to its accuracy. Every detail pertaining to it, such as drawings, calculations, and references, were carefully put on paper. There was not an inserted word nor a blot to be seen. If he did make a mistake, he would erase it so cleverly that it could be discovered only on the closest inspection. One could see that it was a law of his being to do everything with the greatest neatness. But he was just as particular with regard to order and oversight. Irving says of him: “Nothing was left half done, or done in a hurried and slovenly manner. The habit of mind thus cultivated continued throughout life; so that, however complicated his tasks and overwhelming his cares, in the arduous and hazardous situations in which he was often placed, he found time to do everything and to do it well. He had acquired the magic of method, which of itself works wonders.” His education was very limited outside of mathematics. Probably he did not learn even the simplest rules of grammar in school. We may infer this from his notebooks of that period, in which grammatical mistakes often occur. But even in grammar he made himself a master, when once he had fixed his attention upon it. Careful consideration and comparisons, with attentive reading of masterpieces of literature, was a training which enabled him later to express himself in pure and correct language, both in speaking and writing, and the reader will see from examples which we shall give that Washington became a master of style. But study alone could not have made purity, sincerity, and directness the most prominent characteristics of his writings. His literary style was the mirror of his character. He appreciated his good fortune in having family connections which gave him the entrÉe into several cultivated family circles. His brother Lawrence was happily married, living in comfortable circumstances on his estate at Mount Vernon, and George was often there. A few miles away was Belvoir, the large property of Lawrence’s father-in-law, the above-mentioned William Fairfax. This man had passed an eventful life. He was born in England, entered the army early, took part in several campaigns, and was later appointed by the English government governor and chief justice of an island of the East Indies. He had now been living in Virginia for several years, where, for a long time, he had been president of the royal council of the colonies. The home of this experienced and kindly man, where there was a number of amiable and well-educated sons and daughters, was also open to George. Having his eyes and ears open for all that was improving, George learned many things at Belvoir. He also became acquainted there with an important and at the same time interesting personage—a nobleman of the same name from England, a cousin of William Fairfax, and therefore, since the marriage of George’s step-brother, a sort of relative of his. This Lord Fairfax was a man nearly sixty years old, over six feet tall, gaunt and rawboned, with light gray eyes, sharp features, and an aquiline nose. In England he had distinguished himself equally in the use of the sword and the pen. Through his marriage he acquired boundless territories, so to speak, in Virginia—the whole region between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers, which later was found to extend into the Allegheny Mountains. By the desire of Lord Fairfax his cousin William had hitherto managed the property, and Lord Fairfax had only recently arrived in Virginia to become acquainted for the first time with his truly princely domain. It was a wilderness, but what a wilderness! Let us take the opportunity of saying a word about Virginia. The Allegheny Mountains divide the State into three regions: the mountainous and romantic one, with the celebrated Natural Bridge, where Cedar Creek dashes along between perpendicular walls of stone 250 feet below the rock arch; that portion farther eastward with a sandy, marshy, flat coast; and the arable, rolling, western portion bounded by the Ohio River. In the greater part of it the soil is truly luxuriant. There is fine grazing for sheep, as well as cattle. One sees maples, oaks, plantains, nut and tulip trees, lindens, elms, ash, magnolia, chestnut, cherry, and plum trees overgrown with wild grape and other vines in the beautiful forests, and there is no lack of fish and game. Lord Fairfax had not dreamed that Virginia could be so beautiful; and how delightful the task of reclaiming a section of this virgin soil in the midst of the primeval forest seemed to him! How empty and purposeless the pleasures of the city compared with the delights of life and labor in the cultivation of the wilderness! He was never tired of admiring the estate of his cousin. He no doubt had the same feelings as Chateaubriand under the same circumstances, to which he has given utterance in the following words: “What a fascinating mixture of social and natural life reigned there! By the side of a cypress wood, charming residue of the impenetrable wilderness, was a nascent vegetation; ears of corn trembled in golden waves around the roots of a fallen oak; full sheaves, daughters of a single Summer, stood upon the site of the ancient forest; thick columns of smoke rose from the burning woods and floated away over the fertile fields, while the plough slowly cut its way through the roots of the ancient trees. Surveyors were carefully staking out the boundaries of the new estate; the wild birds had deserted their nests, the dens of wild beasts were converted into roomy cabins, and every blow of the woodman’s axe was a prophecy of the blessings which were soon to rest upon these fields.” So the venerable but still vigorous Lord Fairfax resolved to settle down in the neighborhood and never to return to England. For a time he lived at Belvoir on the estate of his cousin. We must not conceal the fact that in spite of his enthusiasm for a planter’s life, Lord Fairfax had not forgotten to inquire whether the fox was a native of the American forests. He was passionately fond of fox hunting, and if his question had not received a favorable answer, it is more than likely that his newly awakened love for America would soon have waned. However, foxes were very numerous amongst the forest animals of this region, a circumstance which lent fresh charm to the country. But there was still another consideration. On a fox hunt one must have at least one companion; but where should he find a horseman who could in some degree compare with the former dashing cavalry officer, especially in this hilly region, covered with thickets which had never been penetrated by a human being? The reader may perhaps, ere this, have had an inkling that our George may have been a most welcome hunting companion for the grizzled lover of the hunt. And it was so. Lord Fairfax kept horses and dogs in the English style, and when the hunting season began George rode out into the woods with him every morning, and they seldom returned without trophies. The nobleman had seen but a small portion of his extensive Virginia estate, neither had he any intention of riding through the wilderness to inspect it all, but he determined to have it surveyed, especially as he learned that people had already settled on certain portions of it without having any right to do so. Therefore he considered it very necessary to have it surveyed, so that in future the relations of settler to proprietor might be regulated according to law. Thus he was anxious to find a capable person to undertake the business. Whoever did so must, besides having a knowledge of the business, be conscientious and reliable, and must possess not a little courage. The matter was thoroughly discussed by Lord Fairfax, William Fairfax, and Lawrence Washington. The latter was able to show calculations and surveys which George had made shortly before this on his own property. The result of the conference was that Lord Fairfax felt perfect security in confiding the survey to our George, who had just completed his sixteenth year. He had taken it for granted that George would not refuse, and he was not mistaken. It is evident that the commission was very flattering to George, and that the execution of it was calculated to perfect him in his profession. In addition to this he was to receive a considerable sum of money for the work which he would have been glad to do for its own sake. His diary tells us that he was to receive a doubloon for every full day’s work, which is about $7.50 in our money. He first went home to get his mother’s permission to undertake the business. Every ambitious youth will appreciate what his feelings were, how his heart glowed at the thought of telling his mother of this honor which had befallen him and which was to be, in every way, so profitable. |
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