ts there never existed a more miserable set of beings than
those wretched creatures now are. Taught to believe that the power of
Great Britain was superior to all opposition, and that foreign aid was
at hand, they were even higher and more insulting in their opposition
than the regulars. When the order was issued, therefore, for embarking
the troops in Boston, no electric shock, no sudden clap of thunder, in a
word, the last trump, could not have struck them with greater
consternation. They were at their wits' end; chose to commit themselves,
in the manner I have above described, to the mercy of the waves at a
tempestuous season, rather than meet their offended countrymen."

With exceeding joy Washington beheld the "precipitate retreat" of the
British army from Boston, but fired not a gun. One of General Howe's
officers wrote afterwards:

"It was lucky for the inhabitants now left in Boston that they did not,
for I am informed that everything was prepared to set the town in a
blaze had they fired one cannon."

We have intentionally passed over several incidents, with the rehearsal
of which we will bring this chapter to a close.

When Washington assumed the command of the American army, he left his
Mount Vernon estate in charge of Mr. Lund Washington, continuing to
direct its management by correspondence. He expected to return to his
home in the autumn, and so encouraged his wife to believe. But in this
he was sorely disappointed. His thoughtful and benevolent character
appears in one of his early letters to his agent:

"Let the hospitality of the house with respect to the poor be kept up.
Let no one go hungry away. If any of this kind of people should be in
want of corn, supply their necessaries, provided it does not encourage
them to idleness; and I have no objection to your giving my money in
charity to the amount of forty or fifty pounds a year, when you think it
is well bestowed. What I mean by having no objection is, that it is my
desire that it should be done."

Many Americans feared that the enemy might send a war vessel up the
Potomac and destroy the Mount Vernon residence and capture Mrs.
Washington. She was earnestly advised to leave, and repair to a place of
safety beyond the Blue Ridge. But Washington sent for her to come to him
at Cambridge.

She was four weeks travelling from Mount Vernon to Cambridge. She
performed the journey in her own carriage, a chariot drawn by four fine
horses, with black po