when he was repulsed she was never cast down. She foresaw that he would be
made President, and thought "he would do as well as anybody."

Once, she complained to him of her house in Fredericksburg; he wrote in
answer, gently but plainly, that her habits of life were not such as would
be acceptable at Mount Vernon. And to this she replied that she had never
expected or intended to go to Mount Vernon, and moreover would not, no
matter how much urged--a declination without an invitation that must have
caused the son a grim smile. In her nature was a goodly trace of savage
stoicism that took a satisfaction in concealing the joy she felt in her
son's achievement; for that her life was all bound up in his we have good
evidence.

Washington looked after her wants and supplied her with everything she
needed, and, as these things often came through third parties, it is
pretty certain she did not know the source; at any rate she accepted
everything quite as her due, and shows a half-comic ingratitude that is
very fine.

When Washington started for New York to be inaugurated President, he
stopped to see her. She donned a new white cap and a clean apron in honor
of the visit, remarking to a neighbor woman who dropped in that she
supposed "these great folks expected something a little extra." It was the
last meeting of mother and son. She was eighty-three at that time and "her
boy" fifty-five. She died not long after.

Samuel Washington, the brother two years younger than George, has been
described as "small, sandy-whiskered, shrewd and glib." Samuel was married
five times. Some of the wives he deserted and others deserted him, and two
of them died, thus leaving him twice a sad, lorn widower, from which