VERSES TO THE LOWLAND BEAUTY.

13

manuscript, the two sets of verses. From a literary point of view nothing could possibly be worse. In the view of the historian or biographer, they have the interest which attaches to every experiment which a boy who has proved distinguished has made in the early exercise of his powers.

Oh ye Gods why should my Poor Resistless Heart
Stand to oppose thy might and Power

At Last surrender to cupid's feather'd Dart,
And now lays Bleeding every Hour.

For her that's pitiless of my grief and Woes
And will not on me Pity take.

Ile sleep amongst my most inveterate Foes
And with gladness never wish to wake.
In deluding sleepings let my eyelids close,
That in an enraptured Dream I may
In a soft lulling sleep and gentle repose
Possess those joys denyed by Day.

From your bright sparkling Eyes, I was undone ;
Rays, you have, rays more transparent than the sun,
Amidst its glory in the rising Day,

None can you equal in your bright array:
Constant in your calm and unspotted mind;
Equal to all, but will to none Prove kind,
So knowing, seldom one so young you'l Find.
Ah, woe's me, that I should Love and concel
Long have I wish'd but never dare reveal,
Even though severely Love's Pain I feel;
Xerxes that great, was't free from Cupid's Dart,
And all the greatest Heroes, felt the smart.

The Virginian traditions seem to imply that the lady in question was Miss Grimes of Westmore

land, who afterwards married the very Master Lee whose imagined correspondence on the subject of the elephant we have already cited.

If this be so, she became afterwards the mother of "Light-Horse Harry," whom we shall meet again in the accounts of the Revolution. It was left for him to pronounce upon Washington the noblest eulogy which has, perhaps, ever been spoken on any man. He said truly that Washington was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." It is pleasant to believe that in the cordial letter which Washington afterwards wrote to Lee, and which the reader will find in its place, congratulating him on his success in a brilliant military exploit, there lurked some fond memories of the old boy days when he was writing verses to "The Lowland Beauty.'

It is interesting, again, to those who from the distance of a hundred years look back at this enthusiasm, to remember that "The Lowland Beauty" was the grandmother of Gen. Robert E. Lee who, as commander of the forces of the Confederate States in the war of the rebellion, showed such distinguished military skill.

Lord Fairfax, himself, had left England with a broken heart from some misadventure in love. Of this the history is not preserved. His young friend and pupil learned from him or from somebody the secret of mastering his sorrows, if indeed

FIRST COMMISSION.

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there were any sorrows. What is certain is, that he entered into a fresh open-air life, as the surveyor whose services were needed by Lord Fairfax in marking out the boundaries of his vast domains.

Lord Fairfax had large grants in what we now call "the valley of Virginia." He was preparing to build for himself a house in that country which should be his permanent home. Although he never carried out this purpose, he did build a lodge where he often resided, and where indeed, forty years after, he died, at the age of ninety-two. Lord Fairfax entrusted the boy surveyor with the work of surveying the boundaries of this estate, and so well did he succeed in it, that he was able to present himself, in the regular order of the sensible civil service of that day, before the President and Master of William & Mary College. They appointed him to be surveyor of Culpepper County, and his first commission in the service of his country is that which they gave him when he was but seventeen years old. The record of it still exists in these words:

"George Washington, Gent., produced a commission from the President and Master of William & Mary Col- . lege, appointing him to be surveyor of this county, which was read, and thereupon he took the usual oaths to his Majesty's person and government, and took and subscribed the abjuration oath and test, and then took the oath of a surveyor, according to law."

Land-Surveying-Lord Fairfax-Work in the Valley of Virginia-Washington's Diary There-Life at Greenway Lodge-Accuracy of His WorkGood Education His Brother's Illness-Bermuda-Return - His Brother's Death-Inherits Mt. Vernon-Rules of Deportment.

TH

HIS commission had been fairly earned. There is no doubt that George Washington was a good land-surveyor. Land-surveying was the duty that came next his hand, and that duty he did well though he was but a boy of fifteen. The pride and fondness of later days preserved the memory of the names of several special teachers who claimed the credit of having trained him.

Lord Fairfax invited him one day to join in a fox chase and was delighted with his courage, his horsemanship, and his address. The old nobleman watched the lad, and saw how well he understood the business he had engaged in. He proposed to him to go out with George Fairfax, his son, who was now twenty-two years old, and undertake some of the surveys which were necessary in his Shenandoah property. For this purpose they left Mt. Vernon in March, 1748, and were absent in the woods for more than a month. His little diary

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which he kept during the expedition tells the story so briefly that it is well worth transcribing.

March 13th. Rode to his Lordship's (Lord Fairfax's) quarter. About four miles higher up the river Shenandoah we went through most beautiful groves of sugar

trees, and spent the best part of the day in admiring the trees and richness of the land.

14th. We sent our baggage to Captain Hite's, near Fredericktown (afterwards Winchester), and went ourselves down the river about sixteen miles (the land exceedingly