Vermont Watchman And State Journal

WASHINGTON LOVED HIS MOTHER.

Immediately after the organization of the present government, General Washington repaired to Fredericksburg, to pay his humble duty to his mother, preparatory to his departure to New York. An affecting scene ensued. The son feelingly remarked the ravages which a torturing disease had made upon the aged form of his mother, and thus addressed her:

"The people, madam, have been pleased, with the most flattering unanimity, to elect me to the chief magistracy of the United States, but before I can assume the functions of that office, I have come to bid you farewell. So soon as the public business, which must necessarily be encountered in arranging a new government, can be disposed of, I shall hasten to Virginia, and"

Here the matron interrupted him. "You will see me no more. My great age, and the disease that is fast approaching my vitals, warn me that I shall not be long in this world. I trust in God, I am somewhat prepared for a better. But go, George, fulfill the high destinies which Heaven appears to assign you; go, my son, and may that Heaven's and your mother's blessing be with you always."

The President was deeply affected. His head rested upon the shoulder of his parent, whose aged arm feebly and fondly encircled his neck. That brow, on which fame had wreathed the purest laurel virtue ever gave to created man, relaxed from its lofty bearing. That look which could have awed a Roman Senate, in its Fabrician day, was bent in filial tenderness upon the time-worn features of this venerable matron. The great man wept. A thousand recollections crowded upon his mind, as memory, retracing scenes long past, carried him back to his paternal mansion, and the days of his youth: and there the center of attraction was his beloved mother, whose care, instruction, and discipline, had prepared him to reach the topmost height of laudable ambition; yet how were his glories forgotten while he gazed upon her from whom, wasted by time and malady, he must soon part to meet no more!

The matron's predictions were true. The disease, which had so long preyed upon her frame, completed its triumph, and she expired at the age of eighty-five, confiding in the promise of immortality to the humble believer.

Remember this story, little children. Washington, you know, was a great man. I shall never expect to see any little boy become a great man, who does not love his mother.

From the N. Y. American.