Of Washington's relations with his youngest brother, Charles, little can
be learned. He was the last of his brothers to die, and Washington
outlived him so short a time that he was named in his will, though only
for a mere token of remembrance. "I add nothing to it because of the ample
provision I have made for his issue." Of the children so mentioned,
Washington was particularly fond of George Augustine Washington. As a mere
lad he used his influence to procure for him an ensigncy in a Virginia
regiment, and an appointment on Lafayette's staff. When in 1784 the young
fellow was threatened with consumption, his uncle's purse supplied him
with the funds by which he was enabled to travel, even while Washington
wrote, "Poor fellow! his pursuit after health is, I fear, altogether
fruitless." When better health came, and with it a renewal of a troth with
a niece of Mrs. Washington's, the marriage was made possible by Washington
appointing the young fellow his manager, and not merely did it take place
at Mount Vernon, but the young couple took up their home there. More than
this, that their outlook might be "more stable and pleasing," Washington
promised them that on his death they should not be forgotten. When the
disease again developed, Washington wrote his nephew in genuine anxiety,
and ended his letter, "At all times and under all circumstances you and
yours will possess my affectionate regards." Only a few days later the
news of his nephew's death reached him, and he wrote his widow, "To you
who so well know the affectionate regard I had for our departed friend, it
is unnecessary to describe the sorrow with which I was afflicted at the
news of his death." He asked her and her children "to return to your old
habitation at Mount Vernon. You can go to no place where you can be more
welcome, nor to any where you can live at less expence and trouble," an
offer, he adds, "made to you with my whole heart." Furthermore, Washington
served as executor, assumed the expense of educating one of the sons, and
in his will left the two children part of the Mount Vernon estate, as
well as other bequests, "on account of the affection I had for, and the