r neighborhood gaiety. Overflowing with the
young people of the family, more were attracted. George Washington was
a daily visitor--Sally, but two years older than himself, filled him
with delight. At Belvoir he met with the heads of government and gleaned
from these meetings knowledge and inspiration to carry him through
ordeals never experienced by his preceptors. Here, too, the feminine
contacts smoothed the rough edges; George learned to turn the music for
young ladies performing upon the harpsichord, to rescue times without
number skeins of silk and balls of wool as well as lacy bits of linen
continually dropped by fair hands; he was taught the latest dance step
from London and learned the most elegant of court bows. In those days
the turn of a wrist and the flip of a lace ruffle were not considered
inconsequential. It was here he acquired that never-failing interest in
the "newest taste and the latest fashion."

[Illustration: Mrs. George William Fairfax. (Sally Cary)]

Under this hospitable roof in early and formative years, associated with
the cavaliers in daily intercourse, Washington developed an ease of
manner and a dignity of deportment that became him well. In the library
of this home he became familiar with the best in literature, his love of
beauty was aroused, his knowledge of homemaking and gardening acquired,
for this household wielded a highly civilizing influence, and awakened
George Washington to the charms of culture and refinement. To appreciate
the influence of this family upon Washington, it is only necessary to
recall how brief was his schooling, how limited his prospects, how poor
his pocket when, at the age of fifteen, he came to make his home at
Mount Vernon.

At Belvoir and at Mount Vernon, George Washington first learned of the
new port to be built at Hunting Creek warehouse. Long and often the talk
was concerned with the progress being made before the assembly by
Lawrence Washington and the two Colonels Fairfax. The latter gentlemen,
being engineers, were both familiar with the construction of the towns
in Great Britain and on the Continent. To Belvoir came Colonel Carlyle
and Colonel Ramsay, as well as other gentlemen from Dumfries and the
county, occupied with the same interest, who hoped to better their
fortunes by the shipping trade which they expected the new town to
attract, and willing to gamble time and money upon the erection of
dwellings, warehouses, and docks.

These men we