n whose assiduity and military capacity
are second to none in our Service"--Washington was intimate enough to have
Stewart apply in 1763 for four hundred pounds to aid him to purchase a
commission, a sum Washington did not have at his disposal. But because of
"a regard of that high nature that I could never see you uneasy without
feeling a part and wishing to remove the cause," Washington lent him three
hundred pounds towards it, apparently without much return, for some years
later he wrote to a friend that he was "very glad to learn that my friend
Stewart was well when you left London. I have not had a letter from him
these five years." At the close of the Revolution he received a letter
from Stewart containing "affectionate and flattering expressions," which
gave Washington "much pleasure," as it "removed an apprehension I had long
labored under, of your having taken your departure for the land of
Spirits. How else could I account for a silence of 15 years. I shall
always be happy to see you at Mt. Vernon."

His friend William Ramsay--"well known, well-esteemed, and of unblemished
character"--he appointed commissary, and long after, in 1769, wrote,--

"Having once or twice of late heard you speak highly in praise of the
Jersey College, as if you had a desire of sending your son William
there ... I should be glad, if you have no other objection to it than what
may arise from the expense, if you would send him there as soon as it is
convenient, and depend on me for twenty-five pounds this currency a year
for his support, so long as it may be necessary for the completion of his
education. If I live to see the accomplishment of this term, the sum here
stipulated shall he annually paid; and if I die in the mean while, this
letter shall be obligatory upon my heirs, or executors, to do it according
to the true intent and meaning hereof. No other return is expected, or
wished, for this offer, than that you will accept it with the same freedom
and good will, with which it is made, and that you may not even consider
it in the light of an obligation or mention it as such; for, be assured,
that from me it will never be known."

The dearest friendship formed in these years was with the doctor of the
regiment, James Craik, who in the course of his duties attended Washington
in two serious illnesses, and when the war was ended settled near Mount
Vernon. He was frequently a visitor there, and soon became the family
medical atten