n arms had blazoned upon it "3 Cinque foiles,"
which was the herald's way of saying that the bearer owned land and was
a farmer. When Washington made a book-plate he added to the old design
spears of wheat to indicate what he once called "the most favorite
amusement of my life." Evidently he had no fear of being-called a
"clodhopper" or a "hayseed!"

Nor was his enthusiasm for agriculture the evanescent enthusiasm of the
man who in middle age buys a farm as a plaything and tries for the first
time the costly experiment of cultivating the soil. He was born on a
plantation, was brought up in the country and until manhood he had never
even seen a town of five thousand people. First he was a surveyor, and
so careful and painstaking was he that his work still stands the test.
Later he became a soldier, and there is evidence to show that at first
he enjoyed the life and for a time had military ambitions. When
Braddock's expedition was preparing he chafed at the prospect of
inaction and welcomed the offer to join the general's staff, but the
bitter experiences of the next few years, when he had charge of the
herculean task of protecting the settlers upon the "cold and Barren
Frontiers ... from the cruel Incursions of a crafty Savage Enemy,"
destroyed his illusions about war. After the capture of Fort Duquesne
had freed Virginia from danger he resigned his commission, married and
made a home. Soon after he wrote to an English kinsman who had invited
him to visit London: "I am now I believe fixed at this seat with an
agreeable Consort for Life. And hope to find more happiness in
retirement than I ever experienced amidst a wide bustling world."

Thereafter he quitted the quiet life always with reluctance. Amid long
and trying years he constantly looked forward to the day when he could
lay down his burden and retire to the peace and freedom of Mount Vernon,
there to take up again the task of farming. As Commander-in-Chief of the
Armies of the Revolution and as first President of the Republic he gave
the best that was in him--and it was always good enough--but more from a
sense of duty than because of any real enthusiasm for the role of
either soldier or statesman. We can well believe that it was with
heartfelt satisfaction that soon after independence was at last assured
he wrote to his old comrade-in-arms the Marquis de Chastellux: "I am at
length become a private citizen on the banks of the Potomac, where under
my own vine and