e school for ever; and a
day of sorrow it was to his school-fellows, who parted from him with
many an affectionate wish, and, as we are told, even with tears; so
greatly had he endeared himself to them by his noble disposition,
gentle manners, and earnest desire to do as he would be done by, which
appeared in all his words and actions. In these regrets, Mr. Williams,
his worthy schoolmaster, also shared; and it gave him in after-life,
when his little George had become the great Washington, the most
heartfelt pleasure to say, that it had never been his privilege to
teach another pupil who could at all compare with him for diligence in
application, aptitude in learning, docility of disposition, manly
generosity, courage, and truth.

V.

IN THE WILDERNESS.

Extending from the Rappahannock to the Potomac, and stretching away
beyond the Blue Ridge far into the Alleghany Mountains, there lay at
this time an immense tract of forest land, broken only here and there
by a little clearing, in the midst of which stood the rude log-cabin
of some hardy backwoodsman. This large body of land--the largest,
indeed, ever owned by any one man in Virginia--was the property of a
great English nobleman named Lord Fairfax, an old bachelor of
eccentric habits and strange opinions, but of a highly cultivated
understanding, and, when it so pleased him, of polite and elegant
address. His stature was lofty,--far above that of the common run of
men. He was a keen sportsman, had a fund of whimsical humor, and, in
his odd way, showed himself possessed of a kindly and generous heart;
sometimes making a tenant or poor friend the present of a large farm,
without requiring any thing in return but a haunch of venison or a fat
wild turkey for his next Christmas dinner.

Having heard that settlements were being made in the most fertile
valleys of his wild domain, he had lately come over from the
mother-country to inquire into the matter, and make suitable provision
against any future encroachments of the kind upon his rights. He now
beheld his forest possessions for the first time; and so charmed was
he with the wild beauty of the scenery, and so won over by enticing
visions of fishing and hunting, conjured up by the sight of the waving
woods and running streams, that he resolved to leave his native land
for ever, and take up his abiding-place for the rest of his days amid
those leafy solitudes. Accordingly, he betook himself, with all his
negr