How many human whip-tops had these stanch patriots managed since they wrote those childish epistles!

That Bible is now in the possession of St. John's Lodge, in New York. Upon each cover is a record, in gilt letters, concerning the Lodge; and on the inside, beautifully written upon parchment, in ornamental style, by G. Thresher, surmounted by a portrait of Washington, engraved by Leney, of New York, is the following statement:

"On this Sacred Volume, on the 30th day of April, 5789, in the city of New York, was administered to GEORGE WashINGTON, the first President of the United States of America, the oath to support the Constitution of the United States. This important ceremony was performed by the Most Worshipful Grand Master of Free and Accepted Masons of the state of New York, the Honorable Robert R. Livingston, Chancellor of the state.

"Fame stretched her wings and with her trumpet blew,

'Great Washington is near, what praise is due?

What title shall he have?' She paused, and said,

'Not one-his name alone strikes every title dead.'"

Mrs. Washington did not journey to New York with her husband. Her reluctance to leave Mount Vernon and the quiet of domestic pursuits was quite equal to his. She loved her home, her family, and friends, and had no taste for the excitements of fashionable society and public life. She was, in every respect, a model Virginia housekeeper. She was a very early riser, leaving her pillow at dawn at every season of the year, and engaging at once in the active duties of her household. Yet these duties never kept her from daily communion

with God, in the solitude of her closet. After breakfast she invariably retired to her chamber, where she remained an hour reading the Scriptures and engaged in thanksgiving and prayer. For more than half a century she practised such devotions in secret; and visitors often remarked that when she appeared after the hour of spiritual exercises, her countenance beamed with ineffable sweetness.

All day long that careful, bustling, industrious little housewife kept her hands in motion. "Let us repair to the old lady's room," wrote the wife of Colonel Edward Carrington to her sister, a short time before Washington's death, while on a visit to Mount Vernon-"Let us repair to the old lady's room, which is precisely in the style of our good old aunt'sthat is to say, nicely fixed for all sorts of work. On one side sits the chambermaid, with her knitting; on the other a little colored pet, learning to sew. An old decent woman is there, with her table and shears, cutting out the negroes' winter clothes, while the good old lady directs them all, incessantly knitting herself. She points out to me several pair of nice colored stockings and gloves she had just finished, and presents me with a pair, half done, which she begs I will finish and wear for her sake. It is wonderful, after a life spent as these good people have necessarily spent theirs, to see them, in retirement, assume those domestic habits that prevail in our country."

Mrs. Washington always spoke of the time when she was in public life, as wife of the President of the United States, as her "lost days." She was compelled to be governed by the etiquette prescribed for her, and she was very restive under it. To the wife of George A. Washington, the General's nephew,

who had married her niece, and who was left in charge of domestic affairs at Mount Vernon when her husband assumed the presidency, she wrote from New York, saying:

"Mrs. Sims will give you a better account of the fashions than I can. I live a very dull life here, and know nothing that passes in the town. I never go to any public placeindeed I think I am more like a state prisoner than any thing else. There are certain bounds set for me which I must not depart from; and, as I cannot do as I like, I am obstinate and stay at home a great deal."

At that time the etiquette of the President's household was not fully determined on. In his diary, on the 15th of November, Washington wrote: "Received an invitation to attend the funeral of Mrs. Roosevelt (the wife of a senator of this state [New York], but declined complying with it-first, because the propriety of accepting any invitation of this sort appeared very questionable and secondly (though to do it in this instance might not be improper), because it might be difficult to discriminate in cases which might thereafter happen."

The establishment of precedents and the arrangements of etiquette were of more importance than might at first thought appear. The plan of having certain days and hours when the President would receive calls, was a measure of absolute necessity, in order that the chief magistrate might have the control of his time; and yet it offended many who were of the extremely democratic school.

The precedents of monarchy might not be followed in a simple republic, and yet a certain dignity was to be preserved. The arrangement of official ceremonies, connected with the

President personally, was finally left chiefly to Colonel Humphreys, who had been abroad, and was a judicious observer of the phases of society under every aspect. The customs which were established during Washington's administration concerning the levees-the President not returning private visits, et cetera-have ever since prevailed; and the chief magistrate of the republic is never seen in the position of a private citizen.

In the letter just quoted, Mrs. Washington wrote: "Dear Fanny, I have, by Mrs. Sims, sent you a watch. It is one of the cargo that I have so long mentioned to you that was expected. I hope it is such a one as will please you. It is of the newest fashion, if that has any influence on your taste. The chain is Mr. Lear's choosing, and such as Mrs. Adams, the Vice-President's lady, and those in polite circles use. It will last as long as the fashion, and by that time you can get another of a fashionable kind."

The watch mentioned in this letter was a flat gold one, manufactured by Lepine, "watchmaker to the king." Washington purchased one for his own use at the same time, it being much more agreeable in the pocket than the old-fashioned bulky English watch. That watch, with the key and seals, became the property of Bushrod Washington, the General's nephew, who inherited Mount Vernon, and was by him, in the following clause in his will, given to a friend:

"My gold watch I give to my friend Robert Adams, of Philadelphia, knowing that he will appreciate the gift, not for the intrinsic value of the article, but because it was worn by the Father of our Country, and afterward by his friend. After the death of the said Robert Adams, I give the said watch to his son Bushrod."

On the 23d of March, 1830, the watch was forwarded to Mr. Adams by John A. Washington, who inherited Mount Vernon from his uncle Bushrod. It is now in the possession of Bushrod Washington Adams, of Phila

delphia, and is preserved with the

greatest care as a precious memento of the beloved patriot. Our engraving shows the watch, ribbon, seal, and key, on a scale one-third less than the objects themselves. The picture of the impression of the seal, exhibiting the Washington arms and motto, is the size of the original. The stones of the seal and key are cornelian; the former white and the latter red, and polygonal in form. The dial is of white enamel; the seconds figures carmine red. The case is standard gold, the alloy copper, giving it the red appearance of jeweller's gold.

In the letter from which we have

just quoted, Mrs. Washington exhibits the care and frugality which she always practised at home. To Fanny she wrote:

"I send to dear Maria a piece of chene to make her a frock, and a piece of muslin which I hope is long enough for an apron for you. In exchange for it, I beg you will give me a worked muslin apron you have, like my gown

WASHINGTON'S LAST
WATCH-SEAL.