of them, to see that this clause respecting slaves, and every part thereof, be religiously fulfilled at the epoch at which it is directed to take place, without evasion, neglect or delay, after

the crops which may then be on the ground are harvested, par

ticularly as it respects the aged and infirm; seeing that a regular and permanent fund be established for their support, as long as there are subjects requiring it, not trusting to the uncertain provision made by individuals.-And, to my mulatto man William (calling himself William Lee,) I give immediate freedom, or if he should prefer it (on account of the accidents which have befallen him, and which have rendered him incapable of walking or of any active employment) to remain in the situation he now is, it shall be optional in him to do so; in either case, however, I allow him an annuity of 30 dollars during his natural life, which shall be independent of the victuals and clothes he has been accustomed to receive, if he chuses the latter alternative; but in full with his freedom, if he prefers the first; and this I give him as a testimony of my sense of his attachment to me, and for his faithful services during the revo lutionary war.

Item.-To the trustees (governors, or by whatsoever other name they may be designated) of the academy in the town of Alexandria, I give and bequeath, in trust, 4000 dollars, or in other words, 20 of the shares which I hold in the bank of Alexandria, towards the support of a free school, established at, and annexed to, the said academy, for the purpose of educating orphan children, or the children of such other poor and indigent persons, as are unable to accomplish it with their own means, and who, in the judgment of the trustees of the said seminary, are best entitled to the benefit of this donation. The aforesaid 20 shares I give and bequeath in perpetuity, the dividends only of which are to be drawn for, and applied by the said trustees, for the time being, for the uses above mentioned; the stock to remain entire and untouched, unless indications of failure of the said bank should be so apparent, or a discontinuance thereof, should render a removal of this fund necessary. In either of these cases, the amount of the stock here devised is to be vested in some other bank, or public institution, whereby

the interest may with regularity and certainty be drawn and ap plied as above. And, to prevent misconception, my meaning is, and is hereby declared to be, that these 20 shares are in lieu of, and not in addition to, the 10001. given by a missive letter some years ago, in consequence whereof, an annuity of 501. has since been paid towards the support of this institution.

Item. Whereas by a law of the commonwealth of Virginia, enacted in the year 1785, the legislature thereof was pleased (as an evidence of its approbation of the services I had rendered the public during the revolution, and partly, I believe, in consideration of my having suggested the vast advantages which the community would derive from the extension of its inland navigation under legislative patronage) to present me with 100 shares of 100 dollars each, in the incorporated company established for the purpose of extending the navigation of James river from the tide-water to the mountains; and also with 50 shares of 1001. sterling each in the corporation of another company likewise established for the similar purpose of opening the navigation of the river Potowmac from the tide-water to Fort Cumberland; the acceptance of which, although the offer was highly honorable and grateful to my feelings, was refused as inconsistent with a principle which I had adopted, and had never departed from-namely, not to receive pecuniary compensation for any services I could render my country in its arduous struggle with Great-Britain for its rights, and because I had evaded similar propositions from other states in the Union: Adding to this refusal, however, an intimation, that, if it should be the pleasure of the legislature to permit me to appropriate the said shares to public uses, I would receive them on those terms with due sensibility; and this it having consented to, in flattering terms, as will appear by a subsequent law and sundry resolutions, in the most ample and honorable manner- -I proceed, after this recital, for the more correct understanding of the case, to declare, That as it has always been a source of serious regret with me, to see the youth of these United States sent to foreign countries for the purposes of education, often before their minds were formed, or they had imbibed any adequate ideas of the happiness of their own, contracting, too frequently,

not only habits of dissipation and extravagance, but principles unfriendly to republican government, and to the true and genuine liberties of mankind, which, thereafter, are rarely overcome. For these reasons, it has been my ardent wish to see a plan devised, on a liberal scale, which would have a tendency to spread systematic ideas through all parts of this rising empire, thereby to do away local attachments and state prejudices, as far as the nature of things would, or indeed ought to admit from our national councils. Looking anxiously forward to the accomplishment of so desirable an object as this is (in my estimation) my mind has not been able to contemplate any plan more likely to effect the measure, than the establishment of a university in a central part of the United States, to which the youths of fortune and talents from all parts thereof might be sent for the completion of their education in all the branches of polite literature in the arts and sciences, in acquiring knowledge in the principles of politics and good government; and, as a matter of infinite importance in my judgment, by associating with each other, and forming friendships in juvenile years, be enabled to free themselves, in a proper degree, from those local prejudices and habitual jealousies which have just been mentioned, and which, when carried to excess, are never-failing sources of disquietude to the public mind, and pregnant of mischievous consequences to this country.-Under these impressions, so fully dilated,

Item. I give and bequeath, in perpetuity, the 50 shares which I hold in the Potowmac company (under the aforesaid acts of the legislature of Virginia) towards the endowment of a university, to be established within the limits of the district of Columbia, under the auspices of the general government, if that government should incline to extend a fostering hand towards it; and until such seminary is established, and the funds arising on these shares shall be required for its support, my further will and desire is, that the profit accruing therefrom, shall, whenever the dividends are made, be laid out in purchasing stock in the bank of Columbia, or some other bank, at the discretion of my executors, or by the treasurer of the United States for the time being, under the direction of congress, provided that ho

F

norable body should patronize the measure; and the dividends proceeding from the purchase of such stock are to be vested in more stock, and so on, until a sum adequate to the accomplishment of the object is obtained, of which I have not the smallest - doubt before many years pass away, even if no aid or encouragement is given by legislative authority, or from any other

source.

Item.-The hundred shares which I hold in the James river company, I have given, and now confirm, in perpetuity, to and for the use and benefit of Liberty Hall Academy, in the county of Rockbridge, in the commonwealth of Virginia.

Item.-I release, exonerate, and discharge, the estate of my deceased brother, Samuel Washington, from the payment of the money which is due to me for the land I sold to Philip Pendleton (lying in the county of Berkeley,) who assigned the same to him, the said Samuel, who, by agreement, was to pay me therefor: And whereas by some contract (the purport of which was never communicated to me) between the said Samuel and his son Thornton Washington, the latter became possessed of the aforesaid land, without any conveyance having passed from me, either to the said Pendleton, the said Samuel, or the said Thornton, and without any consideration having been made, by which neglect, neither the legal nor equitable title has been alienated, it rests therefore with me, to declare my intentions concerning the premises; and these are, to give and bequeath the said land to whomsoever the said Thornton Washington (who is also dead) devised the same, or to his heirs for ever, if he died intestate, exonerating the estate of the said Thornton, equally with that of the said Samuel, from payment of the purchase money, which, with interest, agreeably to the original contract with the said Pendleton, would amount to more than 10001. And whereas two other sons of my said deceased brother, Samuel, namely, George Steptoe Washington and Lawrence Augustine Washington, were, by the decease of those to whose care they were committed, brought under my protection, and, in consequence, have occasioned advances on my part for their education at college and other schools, and for their board,

clothing and other incidental expences, to the amount of near 5000 dollars, over and above the sums furnished by their estate; which sum it may be inconvenient for them or their father's estate to refund-I do, for these reasons, acquit them and the said estate from the payment thereof, my intention being, that all accounts between them and me, and their father's estate and me, shall stand balanced.

Item. The balance due to me from the estate of Bartholomew Dandridge, deceased (my wife's brother) and which amounted, on the first day of October 1795, to 4251. (as will appear by an account rendered by his deceased son, John Dandridge, who was the acting executor of his father's will) I release and acquit from the payment thereof. And the negroes (then 33 in number) formerly belonging to the said estate, who were taken in execution, sold, and purchased in on my account, in the year and ever since have remained in the possession and to the use of Mary, widow of the said Barth. Dandridge, with their increase, it is my will and desire, shall continue and be in her possession, without paying hire, or making compensation for the same, for the time past or to come, during her natural life; at the expiration of which, I direct, that all of them who are 40 years old and upwards, shall receive their freedom; all under that age and above 16, shall serve seven years, and no longer; and all under 16 years shall serve until they are 25 years of age, and then be free. And to avoid disputes respecting the ages of any of these negroes, they are to be taken into the court of the county in which they reside, and the judgment thereof, in this relation, shall be final, and record thereof made, which may be adduced as evidence at any time thereafter, if disputes should arise concerning the same. And I further direct, that the heirs of the said Barth. Dandridge. shall, equally, share the benefits arising from the services of the said negroes, according to the tenor of this devise, upon the decease of their mother,

Item.-If Charles Carter, who intermarried with my niece Betty Lewis, is not sufficiently secured in the title to the lots. he had of me in the town of Fredericksburg, it is my will and