Part 4

XX.

A New Enterprise 233

CONTAINING GLIMPSES OUTSIDE OF THE DIRECT LINE OF OUR STORY, WITH A MORE MINUTE AND CIRCUMSTANTIAL ACCOUNT OF HOW WASHINGTON WOOED AND WON A FAIR LADY THAN IS TO BE MET WITH ELSEWHERE; WITH SOME PARTICULARS TOUCHING AN INTENDED EXPEDITION AGAINST FORT DUQUESNE.

XXI.

More Blundering 244

SHOWING HOW BRADDOCK'S FOLLY WAS REPEATED BY MAJOR GRANT, AS FOREBODED BY WASHINGTON; AND ALSO WHAT CAME OF THE EXPEDITION AGAINST FORT DUQUESNE.

XXII.

Washington at Home 255

GIVING AN ACCOUNT OF WASHINGTON'S MARRIAGE WITH MRS. CUSTIS.--HIS RECEPTION BY THE VIRGINIA HOUSE OF BURGESSES.--HIS HABITS AS A MAN OF BUSINESS.--HIS RURAL PURSUITS AND AMUSEMENTS.--HIS LOVE OF SOCIAL PLEASURES.--HIS ADVENTURE WITH A POACHER; AND MANY OTHER ITEMS; ALL OF WHICH, COMBINED, MAKE THIS CHAPTER ONE OF THE MOST PLEASING AND ENTERTAINING OF THE WHOLE BOOK.

XXIII.

A Family Quarrel 269

WHEREIN THE YOUNG READER WILL FIND WHAT WILL BE EXPLAINED MORE TO HIS SATISFACTION IN CHAPTER XXIV.

XXIV.

The Cause of the Quarrel 276

AFFORDING A MORE CLEAR, AND SATISFACTORY ACCOUNT OF THE CAUSES THAT BROUGHT ABOUT OUR REVOLUTIONARY WAR THAN WAS GIVEN IN CHAPTER XXIII; BUT CHAPTER XXV. MUST NEEDS BE READ, BEFORE A FULL AND COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THESE MATTERS CAN BE ARRIVED AT.

XXV.

Resistance to Tyranny 288

ILLUSTRATING WHAT PART WASHINGTON TOOK IN THESE MEASURES OF RESISTANCE TO BRITISH TYRANNY.--HOW HE BECAME A REPRESENTATIVE OF VIRGINIA IN THE GREAT COLONIAL ASSEMBLY, OTHERWISE CALLED THE OLD CONTINENTAL CONGRESS; AND HOW, UPON THE BREAKING-OUT OF HOSTILITIES BETWEEN THE COLONIES AND THE MOTHER-COUNTRY, HE WAS MADE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF ALL THE FORCES OF THE UNITED COLONIES; WITH OTHER ITEMS TOUCHING THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, AND PATRICK HENRY, THE GREAT VIRGINIA ORATOR.

XXVI.

Conclusion 301

WHEREIN THE YOUNG READER WILL BE ENTERTAINED WITH THE PLEASING AND EDIFYING CONVERSATION WHICH TOOK PLACE BETWEEN UNCLE JUVINELL AND THE LITTLE FOLKS, TOUCHING DIVERS MATTERS IN BOOK FRIDAY; WHICH DEMAND FURTHER CONSIDERATION FOR A MORE COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF OUR HISTORY, PAST AND TO COME.

THE FARMER BOY.

INTRODUCTION.

Somewhere in green Kentucky, not a great many years ago, the ruddy light of a Christmas sunset, streaming in at the windows of an old-fashioned brick house, that stood on a gentle hillside, half hidden by evergreens, shone full and broad on a group of merry little youngsters there met together to spend the holiday with their Uncle Juvinell, a charming old bachelor of threescore and ten.

What with "blind man's buff," "leap-frog," "hide-and-seek," "poor pussy wants a corner," Mother Goose, dominos, sky-rockets and squibs, and what with the roasting of big red apples and the munching of gingerbread elephants, the reading of beautiful story-books,--received that morning as Christmas presents from their Uncle Juvinell and other loving relatives,--these little folks had found this day the most delightful of their lives.

Tired at last of play, and stuffed with Christmas knick-knacks till their jackets and breeches could hold no more, they had now betaken themselves to the library to await the return of their Uncle Juvinell, who had gone out to take his usual evening walk; and were now quietly seated round a blazing winter fire, that winked and blinked at them with its great bright eye, and went roaring right merrily up the wide chimney. Just as the last beam of the setting sun went out at the window, Uncle Juvinell, as if to fill its place, came in at the door, all brisk and ruddy from his tramp over the snow in the sharp bracing air, and was hailed with a joyous shout by the little folks, who, hastening to wheel his great arm-chair for him round to the fire, pushed and pulled him into it, and called upon him to tell one of his most charming stories, even before the tingling frost was out of his nose.

As this worthy old gentleman has done much for the entertainment and instruction of the rising generations of the land, it is but due him that some mention, touching his many amiable traits of character and his accomplishments of mind and person, should be made in this place for the more complete satisfaction of those who may hereafter feel themselves indebted to him for some of the most pleasant moments of their lives.

In person, Uncle Juvinell is stout and well-rounded. His legs are fat, and rather short; his body is fat, and rather long; his belly is snug and plump; his hands are plump and white; his hair is white and soft; his eyes are soft and blue; his coat is blue and sleek; and over his sleek and dimpled face, from his dimpled chin to the very crown of his head,--which, being bald, shines like sweet oil in a warm fire-light,--there beams one unbroken smile of fun, good-humor, and love, that fills one's heart with sunshine to behold. Indeed, to look at him, and be with him a while, you could hardly help half believing that he must be a twin-brother of Santa Claus, so closely does he resemble that far-famed personage, not only in appearance, but in character also; and more than once, having been met in his little sleigh by some belated school-boy, whistling homeward through the twilight of a Christmas or New Year's Eve, he has been mistaken for the jolly old saint himself. In short, his whole appearance is in the highest degree respectable; and there is even about him an air of old-fashioned elegance, which of course is owing chiefly to the natural sweetness and politeness of his manners, and yet perhaps a little heightened withal by the gold-bowed spectacles that he wears on his nose, the heavy gold bar that pins his snowy linen, the gold buttons that shine on his coat, his massive gold watch-chain (at the end of which hangs a great red seal as big as a baby's fist), and by his gold-headed ebony cane, that he always carries on his shoulder like a musket when he walks, as much as to say, "Threescore and ten, and no need of a staff yet, my Christian friend." No man is more beloved and esteemed by all who know him, old and young, than he; for like Father Grimes, whose nephew he is by the mother's side.--