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"The spot is of deep interest, not only from its association but its natural beauties.
It commands a view of the Maryland shore; of the Potomac, one of the most majestic
of rivers, and of its course for many miles towards Chesapeake Bay. The house was a
low-pitched, single-storied, frame building, with four rooms on the first floor, and an
enormous chimney at each end on the outside. This was the style of the better sort of
houses in those days, and they are still occasionally seen in the old settlements of Virginia."

How grateful the relief which the friend of mankind, the lover of virtue experiences
when, turning from the contemplation of such a character, his eye rests upon the greatest
man of our own or any other age. . . . In Washington we truly behold a marvellous
contrast to almost every one of the endowments and the vices which we have been
contemplating; and which are so well fitted to excite a mingled admiration, and sorrow,
and abhorrence. With none of that brilliant genius which dazzles ordinary minds;
with not even any remarkable quickness of apprehension; with knowledge less than
almost all persons in the middle ranks, and many well educated of the humbler class
possess; this eminent person is presented to our observation clothed with attributes as
modest, as unpretending, as little calculated to strike or astonish, as if he had passed
through some secluded region of private life. But he had a judgment sure and sound;
a steadiness of mind which never suffered any passion, or even any feeling to ruffle its
calm; a strength of understanding worked, rather than forced its way through all obstacles—removing
or avoiding, rather than overleaping them. His courage, whether in
battle or in council, was as perfect as might be expected from this pure and steady temper
of soul. A perfectly just man, with a thoroughly firm resolution never to be misled
by others, any more than by others to be overawed; never to be seduced, or betrayed,
or hurried away by his own weakness, or self-delusions, any more than by other men's
arts; nor even to be disheartened by the most complicated difficulties, any more than
be spoilt on the giddy heights of fortune—such was this great man—whether we regard
him alone sustaining the whole weight of campaigns, all but desperate, or gloriously
terminating a just warfare by his resources and his courage; presiding over the jarring
elements of his political council, alike deaf to the storms of all extremes—or directing
the formation of a new government for a great people, the first time so vast an experiment
had been tried by man; or finally retiring from the supreme power to which his
virtue had raised him over the nation he had created, and whose destinies he had guided
as long as his aid was required—retired with the veneration of all parties, of all nations,
of all mankind, in order that the rights of men might be preserved, and that his example
might never be appealed to by vulgar tyrants.

This is the consummate glory of the great American; a triumphant warrior, where
the most sanguine had a right to despair; a successful ruler in all the difficulties of a
course wholly untried; but a warrior whose sword only left its sheath when the first law
of our nature commanded it to be drawn; and a ruler who, having tasted of supreme
power, gently and unostentatiously desired that the cup might pass from him, nor would
suffer more to wet his lips than the most solemn and sacred duty to his country and
his God required!

To his latest breath did this great patriot maintain the noble character of a captain,
the patron of peace; and a statesmen, the friend of justice. Dying, he bequeathed to
his heirs the sword he had worn in the war for liberty, charging them "never to take
it from the scabbard but in self-defence, or in defence of their country and her freedom;"

Fac-simile of the entry of the birth of Washington in the Bible of his mother.

Fac-simile of the writing of Washington.

and commanding them that when it should thus be drawn, they should never sheath it,
nor ever give it up, but prefer falling with it in their hands to the relinquishment thereof
—words, the majesty and simple eloquence of which are not surpassed in the oratory of
Athens and Rome. It will be the duty of the historian and the sage in all ages, to omit
no occasion of commemorating this illustrious man; and until time shall be no more,
will be a test of the progress which our race has made in wisdom and in virtue, to be derived
from the veneration paid to the immortal name of WASHINGTON!

Richard Henry Lee, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born at Stratford,
Jan. 20th, 1732. He spent several years in an academy in England, from which
he returned to his native country in his 19th year. His fortune being ample, he devoted
his time principally to the elegant pursuits of literature. In 1755 he offered his services
as a captain of provincials to Braddock; but he refused to accept any more assistance
from the provincials than he was obliged to. In his 25th year, Lee was appointed a
justice of the peace, and was shortly after first chosen a delegate to the House of Burgesses,
where he soon acquired distinction in debate, and his voice was always raised in
support of republican principles. In all the questions of controversy that came up between
the mother country and her colonies, Mr. Lee took an active part. He was appointed
on the most important committees of the House of Burgesses, and drew up some
of the most important papers, which "contained the genuine principles of the revolution,
and abounded in the firm and eloquent sentiments of freemen."

It is stated that the celebrated plan of corresponding committees between the different
colonies, adopted in 1773 by the House of Burgesses, originated with Mr. Lee. The
same idea had, about the same time, been conceived by Mr. Samuel Adams of Massachusetts,
which circumstance has occasioned much dispute. Mr. Lee doubtless followed
the suggestions of his own mind, as he had, five years previously, requested Mr.
Dickinson of Pennsylvania, in a letter, to bestow his consideration upon the advantage
of plans which he communicated to him of the same purport.[1]

Wirt, in describing him at this time, says: "Richard Henry Lee was the Cicero of the
house. His face itself was on the Roman model; his nose Cæsarean; the port and
carriage of his head, leaning persuasively and gracefully forward; and the whole contour
noble and fine. Mr. Lee was by far the most elegant scholar in the house. He
had studied the classics in the true spirit of criticism. His taste had that delicate
touch which seized with intuitive certainty every beauty of an author, and his genius
that native affinity which combined them without an effort. Into every walk of literature
and science he had carried this mind of exquisite selection, and brought it back to
the business of life, crowned with every light of learning, and decked with every wreath
that all the Muses and all the Graces could entwine. Nor did those light decorations
constitute the whole value of its freight. He possessed a rich store of historical and
political knowledge, with an activity of observation, and a certainty of judgment that
turned that knowledge to the very best account. He was not a lawyer by profession, but
he understood thoroughly the constitution both of the mother country and of her colonies,
and the elements also, of the civil and municipal law. Thus, while his eloquence
was free from those stiff and technical restraints which the habits of forensic speaking
are so apt to generate, he had all the legal learning which is necessary to a statesman.
He reasoned well, and declaimed freely and splendidly. The note of his voice was
deeper and more melodious than that of Mr. Pendleton. It was the canorous voice of
Cicero. He had lost the use of one of his hands, which he kept constantly covered with
a black silk bandage neatly fitted to the palm of his hand, but leaving his thumb free;
yet, notwithstanding this disadvantage, his gesture was so graceful and so highly finished,
that it was said he had acquired it by practising before a mirror. Such was his promptitude
that he required no preparation for debate. He was ready for any subject as soon
as it was announced; and his speech was so copious, so rich, so mellifluous, set off
with such bewitching cadence of voice, and such captivating grace of action, that
while you listened to him you desired to hear nothing superior, and indeed thought him
perfect. He had a quick sensibility and a fervid imagination, which Mr. Pendleton
wanted. Hence his orations were warmer and more delightfully interesting; yet still,
to him those keys were not consigned, which could unlock the sources either of the

strong or tender passions. His defect was, that he was too smooth and too sweet. His
style bore a striking resemblance to that of Herodotus, as described by the Roman orator:
`he flowed on, like a quiet and placid river, without a ripple.' He flowed, too,
through banks covered with all the fresh verdure and variegated bloom of the spring;
but his course was too subdued, and too beautifully regular. A cataract, like that of
Niagara, crowned with overhanging rocks and mountains, in all the rude and awful
grandeur of nature, would have brought him nearer to the standard of Homer and of
Henry."

In 1774, he was a member of the first general Congress, where he at once took a
prominent stand, and was on all the leading committees. From his pen proceeded the
memorial of Congress to the people of British America. In the succeeding Congress,
Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the army, and his commission and
instructions were furnished by Mr. Lee, as chairman of the committee appointed for that
purpose. The second address of Congress to the people of Great Britain—a composition
unsurpassed by any of the state papers of the time—was written by him this session.
But the most important of his services in this term was his motion, June 7, 1776, to
declare independence. His speech on introducing this bold and glorious measure, was
one of the most brilliant displays of eloquence ever heard on the floor. After a protracted
debate, it was determined, June 10, to postpone the consideration of this resolution
until the first Monday of the July following; but a committee was appointed to prepare
a declaration of independence. Of this committee he would have been chairman, according
to parliamentary rules, had not the illness of some of his family called him
home. Mr. Jefferson was substituted for him, and drew up the declaration. He shortly
resumed his seat, in which he continued until June, 1777, when he solicited leave of
absence on account of ill health, and to clear up some stains which malice or overheated
zeal had thrown upon his reputation in Virginia. He demanded an investigation
from the Assembly, which resulted in a most triumphant and flattering acquittal, by a
vote of thanks for his patriotic services.

In consequence of Mr. Lee's great and persevering exertions to procure the independence
of his country, and to promote the cause of liberty, the enemy made great exertions
to secure his person. Twice he narrowly escaped being taken. Once his preservation
was owing to the fidelity of his slaves, and on the other occasion his safety was
owing to his own dexterity and presence of mind.

In August, 1778, he was again elected to Congress, but declining health forced him
to withdraw, in a great degree, from the arduous labors to which he had hitherto devoted
himself. In 1780 he retired from his seat, and declined returning to it until 1784. In
the interval he served in the Assembly of Virginia, and, at the head of the militia of his
county, protected it from the incursions of the enemy. In 1784, he was unanimously
chosen president of Congress, but retired at the end of the year, and in 1786 was again
a member of the Virginia Assembly. He was a member of the convention which
adopted the federal constitution, and although personally hostile to it, he joined in the
vote to submit it to the people. He was subsequently, with Mr. Grayson, chosen the first
senators from Virginia under it, and in that capacity moved and carried through several
amendments. In 1792, he was forced by ill health to retire from public life, when he
was again honored by a vote of public thanks from the legislature of Virginia. He died
June 19, 1794.

Francis Lightfoot Lee, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born Oct.
10, 1734. His education was directed by a private tutor, and he inherited a fortune. In
1765 he became a member of the House of Burgesses, and continued in that body until
1775, when the convention of Virginia chose him a member of the Continental Congress,
in which he remained until 1779, when he entered the legislature of Va. He died
in Richmond in 1797.

Henry Lee, a governor of Va. and a distinguished officer of the revolution, was born
Jan. 29, 1756. His family was one of high respectability and distinction. At 18 years
of age he graduated at Princeton College. In 1776, when but 20 years of age, he was
appointed captain of one of the six companies of cavalry composing the regiment of
Col. Theodorick Bland. In Sept., 1777, Capt. Lee, with his company, joined the main
army. He introduced excellent discipline into his corps, and rendered most effectual
service, in attacking light parties of the enemy, in procuring information, and in foraging.

As Capt. Lee, in general, lay near the British lines, a plan was formed in the latter
part of January, 1778, to cut off both him and his troop. A body of 200 cavalry made
an extensive circuit, and seizing four of his patrols, came unexpectedly upon him in his
quarters, a stone house. He had then with him only ten men; yet with these he made
so desperate a defence, that the enemy were beaten off with a loss of 4 killed, and an

officer and 3 privates wounded. His heroism in this affair drew forth from Washington
a complimentary letter, and he was soon after raised to the rank of a major, with the
command of an independent partisan corps of two companies of horse, which afterwards
was enlarged to three, and a body of infantry. On the 19th of July, 1779, Major
Lee, at the head of about 300 men, completely surprised the British garrison at Powles'
Hook—now Jersey City—and after taking 160 prisoners, retreated with the loss of but
2 men killed, and 3 wounded. For his "prudence, address, and bravery," in this affair,
Congress voted him a gold medal.

In the commencement of the year 1780, he joined, with his legion, the army of the
south, having been previously promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In the celebrated
retreat of Greene before Cornwallis, Lee's legion formed the rear-guard of the
army. So hot was the pursuit, that Col. Lee at one time came in contact with Tarleton's
corps, and, in a successful charge, killed 18 of them, and made a captain and several
privates prisoners. Shortly after, Lee with his legion, and Col. Pickens with some
militia, attacked a party of 400 loyalist militia under Col. Pyle, killed 90, and wounded
many others. At the battle of Guilford, Lee's legion distinguished itself; previous to
the action, it drove back Tarleton's dragoons with loss, and afterwards maintained a
sharp and separate conflict until the retreat of the main army. After this, Greene, in
pursuance of the advice of Lee, determined to advance at once into South Carolina,
and endeavor to reannex to the Union that and its sister state of Georgia, instead of
watching the motions of Cornwallis. The results were as fortunate as the design was
bold and judicious. In pursuance of this plan, Greene advanced southward, having previously
detached Lee, with the legion, to join the militia under Marion, and, in cooperation
with him, to attempt the minor posts of the enemy. By a series of bold and
vigorous operations, Forts Watson, Motte, and Granby, speedily surrendered; after
which, the legion was ordered to join Gen. Pickens, and attempt to gain possession of
Augusta. On the way, Lee surprised and took Fort Galphin. The defences of Augusta
consisted in two forts—Fort Cornwallis and Fort Grierson; the latter was taken
by assault, the former after a siege of 16 days. In the unfortunate assault upon Ninety-Six,
Lee was completely successful in the part of the attack intrusted to his care. In
the battle at Eutaw Springs, his exertions contributed much to the successful issue of
the day. After the surrender of Yorktown, Lee retired from the army, carrying with
him, however, the esteem and affection of Greene, and the acknowledgment that his services
had been greater than those of any one man attached to the southern army.

Soon after his return to Virginia, he married a daughter of Philip Ludwell Lee, and
settled at Stratford in this county. In 1786, he was a delegate to Congress; in 1788, a
member of the Virginia convention to ratify the constitution, in defence of which he
greatly distinguished himself. From 1792 to 1795, he was governor of Virginia. On
the breaking out of the Whiskey Insurrection, in 1755, he was appointed by Washington
to the command of the forces ordered against the insurgents, and received great
credit for his conduct. In 1799 he was again a delegate in Congress, and upon the
death of Washington, he was appointed to pronounce his eulogium. It was upon this
occasion he originated the celebrated sentence: "First in war, first in peace, and first
in the hearts of his countrymen." On the election of Jefferson he retired to private life.

His last years were clouded by pecuniary troubles. The hospitable and profuse style
of living so common in Virginia, ruined his estate, and even abridged his personal liberty.
It was in 1809, while confined for debt, that he composed his elegantly written Memoirs
of the Southern Campaign.

General Lee was in Baltimore in 1812, at the time of the riot occasioned by the publication
of some strictures on the war in the Federal Republican, an anti-war paper. After the
destruction of the printing-office, an attack on the dwelling of the editor was apprehended.
Lee, from motives of personal friendship to the editor, with a number of others, assembled
for the purpose of protecting it. On being attacked, two of the assailants were
killed, and a number wounded. The military arriving soon after, effected a compromise
with the mob, and conveyed the inmates of the house to the city-jail for their greater
safety. In the night the mob reassembled in greater force, broke open the jail, killed, and
mangled its inmates in a shocking manner. From injuries then received, Lee never
recovered. He went to the West Indies for his health. His hopes proved futile. He
returned in 1818 to Georgia, where he died.

Gen. Lee was about five feet nine inches, well-proportioned, of an open, pleasant
countenance, and a dark complexion. His manners were frank and engaging; his disposition
generous and hospitable. By his first wife, he had a son and a daughter; by
his second, (a daughter of Charles Carter, of Shirley,) he had three sons and two
daughters.

Arthur Lee, M. D., minister of the United States to the court of Versailles, was a
native of Virginia, and the brother of Richard Henry Lee. He was educated at the
University of Edinburg, where he also pursued for some time the study of medicine. On his
return to this country, he practised physic four or five years in Williamsburg. He then went
to London, and commenced the study of the law in the Temple. During his residence in
England he kept his eye on the measures of government, and rendered the most important
services to his country, by sending to America the earliest intelligence of the plans of
the ministry. When the instructions to Gov. Bernard were sent over, he at the same
time communicated information to the town of Boston respecting the nature of them.
He returned, it is believed, before 1769, for in that year he published the Monitor's
Letters, in vindication of the colonial rights. In 1775 he was in London, as the agent
of Virginia; and he presented, in August, the second petition of Congress to the king.
All his exertions were now directed to the good of his country. When Mr. Jefferson
declined the appointment of a minister to France, Dr. Lee was appointed to his place,
and he joined his colleagues, Dr. Franklin and Mr. Deane, at Paris, in December,
1776. He assisted in negotiating the treaty with France. In the year 1779, he and
Mr. Adams, who had taken the place of Deane, were recalled, and Dr. Franklin was
appointed sole minister to France. His return had been rendered necessary by the malicious
accusations with which Deane had assailed his public conduct.

In the preceding year Deane had left Paris, agreeably to an order of Congress, and
came to this country in the same ship with the French minister Gerard. On his arrival,
as many suspicions hovered around him, he thought it necessary to repel them by
attacking the character of his colleague, Dr. Lee. In an inflammatory address to the
public he vilified him in the grossest terms, charging him with obstructing the alliance
with France, and disclosing the secrets of Congress to British noblemen. He at the
same time impeached the conduct of his brother, William Lee, Esq., agent for Congress
at the courts of Vienna and Berlin. Dr. Lee, also, was not on very good terms with Dr.
Franklin, whom he believed to be too much under the influence of the French court.
Firm in his attachment to the interest of his country, honest, zealous, he was inclined
to question the correctness of all the commercial transactions in which the philosopher
had been engaged. These dissensions among the ministers produced corresponding
divisions in Congress; and Monsieur Gerard had so little respect for the dignity of an
ambassador, as to become a zealous partisan of Deane. Dr. Lee had many friends in
Congress, but Dr. Franklin more. When the former returned to America in the year
1780, such was his integrity, that he did not find it difficult to reinstate himself fully in
the good opinion of the public. In 1784 he was appointed one of the commissioners for
holding a treaty with the Indians of the Six Nations. He accordingly went to Fort
Schuyler, and executed this trust in a manner which did him much honor. In February,
1790, he was admitted a counsellor of the supreme court of the United States, by a
special order. After a short illness, he died, December 14th, 1792, at Urbanna, in Middlesex
county, Virginia. He was a man of uniform patriotism, of a sound understanding,
of great probity, of plain manners, and strong passions.

During his residence for a number of years in England, he was indefatigable in his
exertions to promote the interests of his country. To the abilities of a statesman he
united the acquisitions of a scholar. He was a member of the American Philosophical
Society. Besides the Monitor's Letters, written in the year 1769, which have been
mentioned, he published "Extracts from a Letter to Congress, in answer to a Libel by
Silas Deane," 1780; and "Observations on certain Commercial Transactions in France,"
laid before Congress 1780.

Bushrod Washington was born in this county, and educated at William and Mary.
He studied law in Philadelphia, and commenced its practice with great success in this
county. He was a member of the House of Delegates in 1781. He afterwards removed
to Alexandria, and thence to Richmond, where he published two volumes of the decisions
of the supreme court of Virginia. He was appointed, in 1798, an associate-justice
of the supreme court of the United States, and continued to hold this situation until his
death, in November, 1829. He was the favorite nephew of Gen. Washington, and was
the devisee of Mount Vernon. He was noted for sound judgment, rigid integrity, and
unpretending manners.