s to be fixed among you." John died in
1787, and Washington wrote with simple but undisguised grief of the death
of "my beloved brother."

The eldest son of this brother, Bushrod, was his favorite nephew, and
Washington took much interest in his career, getting the lad admitted to
study law with Judge James Wilson, in Philadelphia, and taking genuine
pride in him when he became a lawyer and judge of repute. He made this
nephew his travelling companion in the Western journey of 1784, and at
other times not merely sent him money, but wrote him letters of advice,
dwelling on the dangers that beset young men, though confessing that he
was himself "not such a Stoic" as to expect too much of youthful blood. To
Bushrod, also, he appealed on legal matters, adding, "You may think me an
unprofitable applicant in asking opinions and requiring services of you
without dousing my money, but pay day may come," and in this he was as
good as his word, for in his will Washington left Bushrod, "partly in
consideration of an intimation to his deceased father, while we were
bachelors and he had kindly undertaken to superintend my Estates, during
my military services in the former war between Great Britain and France,
that if I should fall therein, Mt. Vernon ... should become his property,"
the home and "mansion-house farm," one share of the residuary estate, his
private papers, and his library, and named him an executor of the
instrument.

Of Washington's relations with his youngest brother, Charles, little can
be learned. He was the last of his brothers to die, and Washington
outlived him so short a time that he was named in his will, though only
for a mere token of remembrance. "I add nothing to it because of the ample
provision I have made for his issue." Of the children so mentioned,
Washington was particularly fond of George Augustine Washington. As a mere
lad he used his influence to procure for him an ensigncy in a Virginia
regiment, and an appointment on Lafayette's staff. When in 1784 the young
fellow was threatened with consumption, his uncle's purse supplied him
with the funds by which he was enabled to travel, even while Washington
wrote, "Poor fellow! his pursuit after health is, I fear, altogether
fruitless." When better health came, and with it a renewal of a troth with
a niece of Mrs. Washington's, the marriage was made possible by Washington
appointing the young fellow his manager, and not merely did it take place
at Moun