TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28.

At Annapolis: "The proceedings of the conference, and the Act & Resolutions of this Legislature consequent thereupon (herewith transmitted to the Assembly) are so full & explanatory of the motives which governed in this business, that it is scarcely necessary for me to say any thing in addition to them; except that this State seem highly impressed with the importance of the objects w'ch we have had under consideration, and are very desirous of seeing them accomplished. . .

...

"It is now near 12 at Night, and I am writing with an Aching head, having been constantly employed in this business since the 22d, without assistance from my Colleagues -Gen'l Gates having been sick the whole time & Col Blackburn not attending."- Washington to James Madison.

"I am just returned from Annapolis to which place I was requested to go by our Assembly (with my bosom friend Genl. G-tes, who being at Richmond contrived to edge himself into the commission) for the purpose of arranging matters and framing a Law which should be similar in both States, so far as it respected the river Potomack which separates them. I met the most perfect accordance in that legislature; and the matter is now reported to ours, for its consideration."-Washington to General Knox, January 5, 1785.

1785.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 1.

At Mount Vernon: "January 1.-Col° Bassett, who brought his daughter Fanny to this place to remain on the 24th of last Month set off on his return to the Assembly now sitting at Richmond."- Washington's Diary.

Colonel Burwell Bassett, of "Eltham," New Kent County, Virginia, marrie for a second wife Anna Maria Dandridge, a sister of Mrs. Washington. His daughter Fanny married George Augustine Washington, a nephew of General Washington (son of his brother Charles), at Mount Vernon, October 15, 1785.

MONDAY, JANUARY 3.

At Mount Vernon: "January 3.-Doct' Stuart-his wife -Betcy & Patcy Custis who had been here since the 27th Ulto returned home."- Washington's Diary.

Betcy & Patcy Custis” (Eliza Parke and Martha Parke Custis) were the eldest children of Mrs. Dr. Stuart, by her first husband, John Parke Custis, the son of Mrs. Washington, who died November 5, 1781. The younger children, Eleanor (“Nelly”) Parke and George Washington Parke, had been adopted by Washington and were living at Mount Vernon. With the exception of the latter, all the others were born at "Abingdon," a plantation on the Potomac River immediately above Alexandria, and where the family were living at this time. Dr. David Stuart married Mrs. Custis, who was the daughter of Benedict Calvert, of Mount Airy, Prince George's County, Maryland, in the fall of 1783. He was a frequent visitor at Mount Vernon, and was held in much respect by Washington.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19.

At Mount Vernon: "January 19.-Employed until dinner in laying out my Serpentine Road & Shrubberies adjoining. Just as we had done dinner a Mr Watson-late of the House of Watson & Cossoul of Nantes-came in, and

stayed all Night. January 20.-M Watson went away after breakfast."- Washington's Diary.

"I had feasted my imagination for several days in the near prospect of a visit to Mount Vernon, the seat of Washington. No pilgrim ever approached Mecca with deeper enthusiasm. I arrived there, in the afternoon of January 23d [?] '85. . . . I found him at table with Mrs. Washington and his private family, and was received in the native dignity and with that urbanity so peculiarly combined in the character of a soldier and eminent private gentleman. He soon put me at ease, by unbending in a free and affable conversation.

"The first evening I spent under the wing of his hospitality, we sat a full hour at table by ourselves, without the least interruption, after the family had retired. I was extremely oppressed by a severe cold and excessive coughing, contracted by the exposure of a harsh winter journey. He pressed me to use some remedies, but I declined doing so. As usual after retiring, my coughing increased. When some time had elapsed, the door of my room was gently opened, and on drawing my bed-curtains, to my utter astonishment, I beheld Washington himself, standing at my bed-side, with a bowl of hot tea in his hand."-Memoirs of Elkanah Watson.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27.

At Mount Vernon: "January 27.-Made Mr & Mr Lund Washington a morning visit-from thence I went to Belvoir and viewed the ruined buildings of that place."Washington's Diary.

Lund Washington, manager of the Mount Vernon estate during the Revolution, was a third cousin of General Washington. He resided at "Hayfield," a plantation about four miles northwest of Mount Vernon. "Belvoir," the estate and residence of Sir William Fairfax, a cousin and agent of Lord Thomas Fairfax, the owner of an immense landed estate in the Northern Neck of Virginia, was situated on the Potomac, four miles below Mount Vernon. On the death of Sir William in 1757, it descended to his son George William Fairfax, the friend and neighbor of George Washington. Mr. Fairfax went to England in 1773, and died at Bath, April 3, 1787. As he had no children, "Belvoir" was devised to Ferdinando, the son of his brother, the Rev. Bryan Fairfax. The mansion-house was destroyed by fire shortly after his leaving America.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2.

At Mount Vernon: "February 2.-Employed myself (as there could be no stirring without) in writing Letters by the

Post and in Signing 83 Diplomas for the members of the Society of the Cincinnati-and sent them to the care of Col Fitzgerald in Alexandria-to be forwarded to General [Otho H.] Williams of Baltimore-the Assistant Secretary of the Society."- Washington's Diary.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5.

At Mount Vernon: "Captain Haskell, in the ship Mary, arrived at Alexandria a few days ago; but a frost, which at present interrupts the navigation of the river, has prevented my sending for the chimney-piece. By the number of cases, however, I greatly fear it is too elegant and costly for my room and republican style of living."- Washington to Benjamin Vaughan, at London.

This chimney-piece, one of the special ornaments of the mansion at Mount Vernon, was originally made for Samuel Vaughan, a resident of London, and a great admirer of Washington. It was wrought in Italy from the finest white and sienite marbles for Mr. Vaughan's own use. At the time of its arrival in England, that gentleman was informed of the improvements then in progress at Mount Vernon, and, without unpacking it, he directed his son (Benjamin Vaughan) to send it at once to Washington. An interesting description of this work of art will be found in Lossing's "Mount Vernon and its Associations."

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12.

At Alexandria, Virginia: "February 12.-Received an Invitation to the Funeral of W" Ramsay Esq' of Alexandria -the oldest Inhabitant of the Town ; & went up―walked in procession as a free mason-M' Ramsay in his life time being one & now buried with the ceremony & honors due to one." -Washington's Diary.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22.

At Mount Vernon: "February 22.-Removed two pretty large & full-grown lilacs to the N° Garden gate-one on each side taking up as much dirt with the roots as cd be well obtained. . . . I also removed from the woods and old fields, several young trees of the sassafras, Dogwood & Redbud, to

the Shrubbery on the N° side the grass plot. February 28. -Planted all the Mulberry trees, Maple trees, & Black gums in my Serpentine walks-and the Poplars on the right walk." -Washington's Diary.

Washington took great pleasure in planting trees and shrubbery, and the diaries of 1785-86 show that in these years he was much engaged in that business. On the west front of the mansion he laid out a fine lawn upon a level surface of about twenty acres, and around it made a serpentine carriage-way, on each side of which he planted a great variety of shade-trees, some of which are still standing. The lawn, the oval grass-plot, and the gardens were laid out according to a plan drawn by himself, and still remain unchanged as to form.

TUESDAY, MARCH 8.

At Mount Vernon: "Some imperfect miniature cuts I send you under cover with this letter. They were designed for me by Miss D' Hart of Elizabethtown, and given to Mrs. Washington, who, in sparing them, only wishes they may answer your purpose. For her I can get none cut yet." - Washington to William Gordon.

A silhouette published in volume four of the illustrated edition of Irving's "Life of Washington," inscribed "From the original (cut with scissors) by Miss De Hart, Elizabethtown, N. J. 1783," is, we presume, a reproduction of one of the "imperfect miniature cuts" referred to in the above letter. It is extremely unlike any known profile of Washington. Miss De Hart visited Mount Vernon in October, 1786. She remained from the 26th to the 28th.

SUNDAY, MARCH 20.

At Mount Vernon: "March 20.-Major Jenefir came here to dinner-and my carriage went to Gunston Hall to take Col° Mason to a meeting of Com" at Alexandria for settling the Jurisdiction of Chesapeak Bay & the River Potomack & Pocomoke between the States of Virginia & Maryland.—The Commissioners on the Part of Virginia being Col' [George] Mason-The Attorney General [Edmund Randolph]-M' [James] Madison & M' [Alexander] Henderson-on that of Maryland, Major [Daniel of St.