ting as it did to habits of close and accurate observation, he
impressed the more strongly upon his memory such facts as might prove
of use to him at a future day.

Our two Virginians, during the three or four months of their stay on
the island, were treated with much courtesy and hospitality by the
inhabitants. But neither the genial climate of the region, nor the
kindly hospitality of the people, was enough to restore that health
and strength to the invalid for which he had come so far and hoped so
long.

Feeling that his end was drawing nigh, Lawrence Washington resolved to
hasten home, that he might have the melancholy satisfaction of
spending his last moments in the midst of his family and friends. He
had scarcely returned to Mount Vernon, and bid a fond farewell to the
loved ones there, when the angel of death summoned him to take another
and a longer voyage, in quest of immortality, to be found in the
islands of the blest, that smile in never-fading beauty on the bosom
of the eternal sea.

Thus, at the early age of thirty-four, died Lawrence Washington, one
of the most amiable and accomplished gentlemen of his day. He left
behind him an affectionate wife, a sweet little daughter, a devoted
brother, and many a loving friend, to mourn his loss. In his will, he
bequeathed his fine estate of Mount Vernon and all else that he
possessed to his brother George; on condition, however, that his wife
should have the use of it during her lifetime, and that his daughter
should die without children to inherit it. The daughter did not reach
the years of maidenhood; and, the mother surviving but a few years,
George was left in the undivided possession of a large and handsome
property; and, in a worldly point of view, his fortune was really
already made. But, for all that, he long and deeply mourned the death
of this much loved and valued brother, who had been to him father and
friend ever since that first great sorrow of his childhood, when he
became a widow's son and a widow's blessing.

And thus, my little children, I have told you the story of this great
and good man's life from his years of infancy up to those of early
manhood. I have dwelt at greater length upon this period of his life
than perhaps any other historian, and have told you some things that
you might look for elsewhere in vain. In my treatment of this part of
the subject, it has been my chief aim and earnest desire to impress
upon your opening minds this o