The writings of George Washington; being his correspondence, addresses, messages, and other papers, official and private, selected and published from the original manuscripts; with a life of the author, notes and illustrations. By Jared Sparks.

LIFE OF WASHINGTON.
was methodical, skilful, honorable, and energetic. His
occupation was that of a planter, which, from the first
settlement of the country, had been the pursuit of
nearly all the principal gentlemen of Virginia.
Each of his sons inherited from him a separate plantation. To the eldest, Lawrence, he bequeathed an
estate near Hunting Creek, afterwards Mount Vernon,
which then consisted of twenty-five hundred acres;
and also other lands, and shares in iron-works situated in Virginia and Maryland, which were productive.
The second son had for his part an estate in Westmoreland.cl To George were left the lands and mansion
where his father lived at the time of his decease; and
to each of the other sons an estate of six or seven
hundred acres. The youngest daughter died when an
infant, and for the only remaining one a suitable provision was made in the will. It is thus seen, that
Augustine Washington, although suddenly cut off in
the vigor of manhood, left all his children in a state
of comparative independence. Confiding in the prudence of the mother, he directed that the proceeds
of all the property of her children should be at her
disposal, till they should respectively come of age.
This weighty charge of five young children, the
eldest of whom was eleven years old, the superintendence of their education, and the management of complicated affairs, demanded no common share of resolution, resource of mind, and strength of character. In
these important duties Mrs. Washington acquitted herself with great fidelity to her trust, and with entire
success. Her good sense, assiduity, tenderness, and
vigilance overcame every obstacle; and, as the richest
reward of a mother's solicitude and toil, she had the
happiness to see all her children come forward with
a fair promise into life, filling the sphere allotted to