said Bartholomew 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 desire that my Executors shall make such conveyances of them as the law requires to render it perfect.

Item.-To my nephew, William Augustine Washington, and his heirs (if he should conceive them to be objects worth prosecuting) a lot in the town of Manchester (opposite to Richmond) No. 265, drawn on my sole account, and also the tenth of one or two hundred acre lots, and two or three half acre lots, in the city and vicinity of Richmond, drawn in partnership with nine others, all in the lottery of the deceased William Byrd, are given; as is also a lot which I purchased of John Hood, conveyed by William Willie and Samuel Gordon, trustees of the said John Hood, numbered 139, in the town of Edinburgh, in the county of Prince George, State of Virginia.

Item. To my nephew, Bushrod Washington, I give and bequeath all the papers in my possession, which relate to my civil and military administration of the affairs of this country. -I leave to him also, such of my private papers as are worth preserving; and at the decease of my wife, and before, if she is not inclined to retain them, I give and bequeath my library of books and pamphlets of every kind.

Item.-Having sold lands which I possessed in the State of Pennsylvania, and part of a tract held in equal right with George Clinton, late Governour of Newyork, in the State of Newyork, my share of land and interest, in the Great Dismal Swamp, and a tract of land which I owned in the County of Gloucester-withholding the legal titles thereto, until the consideration money should be paid-and having moreover leased and conditionally sold (as will appear by the tenor of the said leases) all my lands upon the Great Kenhawa, and a tract upon Difficult Run, in the county of Loudoun, it is my will and

direction, that whensoever the contracts are fully and re spectively complied with, according to the spirit, true intent and meaning thereof, on the part of the purchasers, their heirs or assigns, that then, and in that case, conveyances are to be made, agreeable to the terms of the said contracts, and the money arising therefrom, when paid, to be vested in bank stock; the dividends whereof, as of that also which is already vested therein, is to inure to my said wife during her life, but the stock itself is to remain and be subject to the general distribution hereafter directed.

Item. To the Earl of Buchan I recommit the "box made of the oak that sheltered the great Sir William Wallace, after the battle of Falkirk," presented to me by his Lordship in terms too flattering for me to repeat, with a request" to pass it, on the event of my decease, to the man in my country, who should appear to merit it best, upon the same conditions that have induced him to send it to me." Whether easy or not to select the man who might comport with his Lordship's opinion in this respect, is not for me to say; but conceiving that no disposition of this valuable curiosity can be more eligible than the recommitment of it to his own cabinet, agreeably to the original design of the Goldsmiths' Company of Edinburgh, who presented it to him, and at his request, consented that it should be transferred to me—I do give and bequeath the same to his Lordship: and in case of his decease, to his heir, with my grateful thanks for the distinguished honour of presenting it to me, and more especially for the favourable sentiments with which he accompanied it.

Item. To my brother Charles Washington, I give and bequeath the gold headed cane, left me by Dr. Franklin in his will. I add nothing to it, because of the ample provision I have made for his issue. To the acquaintances and friends of my juvenile years, Lawrence Washington and Robert Washington, of Chotanck, I give my other two gold headed canes, having my arms engraved on them; and to each, as they will be useful where they live, I leave one of the spyglasses, which

To my

constituted part of my equipage during the late war. compatriot in arms, and old and intimate friend Dr. Craik, I give my bureau, (or, as the cabinet makers call it, tambour secretary) and the circular chair, an appendage of my study. To Dr. David Stuart, I give my large shaving and dressing table, and my telescope. To the Rev., now Bryan, Lord Fairfax, I give a Bible, in three large folio volumes, with notes, presented to me by the Rt. Rev. T. Wilson, Bishop of Sodor and Man. To General De La Fayette, I give a pair of finely wrought steel pistols, taken from the enemy in the revolutionary war. To my sisters-in-law Hannah Washington and Mildred Washington-to my friends Eleanor Stuart, Hannah Washington, of Fairfield, and Elizabeth Washington, of Hayfield, I give each a mourning ring, of the value of one hundred dollars. These bequests are not made for the intrinsic value of them, but as mementos of my esteem and regard. To Tobias Lear, I give the use of the farm which he now holds, in virtue of a lease from me to him and his deceased wife, (for and during their natural lives) free from rent during his life; at the expiration of which, it is to be disposed of as is herein after directed. To Sally B. Haynie, (a distant relation of mine) I give and bequeath three hundred dollars. To Sarah Green, daughter of the deceased Tho. Bishop, and to Ann Walker, daughter of John Alton, also deceased, I give each one hundred dollars, in consideration of the attachment of their fathers to me; each of whom having

To each of my Ne

lived nearly forty years in my family. phews, William Augustine Washington, George Lewis, George Steptoe Washington, Bushrod Washington, and Samuel Washington, I give one of the swords, or cutteaux, of which I may die possessed; and they are to choose in the order they are named-These swords are accompanied with an injunction not to unsheath them for the purpose of shedding blood, except it be for self defence, or in defence of their country and its rights; and in the latter case, to keep them unsheathed, and prefer falling with them in their hands to the relinquishment thereof. And now, having gone through these specific devises, with

explanations for the more correct understanding of the meaning and design of them, I proceed to the distribution of the more important parts of my estate, in manner following:

First. To my nephew, Bushrod Washington, and his heirs, partly in consideration of an intimation to his deceased father, while we were bachelors, and he had kindly undertaken to superintend my estate during my military services, in the former war between Great Britain, and France, that if I should fall therein, Mount Vernon, (then less extensive in domain than at present, should become his property) I give and bequeath all that part thereof, which is comprehended within the following limits, viz. Beginning at the ford of Dogue Run, near my mill, and extending along the road, and bounded thereby, as it now goes, and ever has gone, since my recollection of it, to the ford of Little Hunting Creek, at the Gum Spring, until it comes to a knowl, opposite to an old road which formerly passed through the lower field of Muddy Hole Farm; at which, on the north side of the said road, are three red or Spanish oaks, marked as a corner, and a stone placedthence by a line of trees, to be marked rectangular, to the back line or outer boundary of the tract between Thompson Mason and myself thence with that line easterly (now double ditching, with a post and rail fence thereon) to the run of Little Hunting Creek-thence with the run, which is the boundary between the lands of the late Humphrey Peake and me, to the tide water of the said Creek-thence by that water to Potowmack River-thence with the river to the mouth of Dogue Creek and thence with the said Dogue Creek to the place of beginning at the aforesaid ford, containing upwards of four thousand acres, be the same more or less, together with the mansion house, and all other buildings and improvements thereon. Second, In consideration of the consanguinity between them and my wife, being as nearly related to her as to myself; as, on account of the affection I had for, and the obligation I was under to, their father when living, who from his youth had attached himself to my person, and followed my

fortunes through the vicissitudes of the late revolution, afterwards devoting his time to the superintendance of my private concerns for many years, whilst my public employments rendered it impracticable for me to do it myself, thereby affording me essential services, and always performing them in a manner the most filial and respectful : for these reasons, I say, I give and bequeath to George Fayette Washington, and Lawrence Augustine Washington, and their heirs, my estate east of Little Hunting Creek, lying on the river Potowmack, including the farm of three hundred and sixty acres, leased to Tobias Lear, as noticed before, and containing in the whole, by deed, two thousand and twenty-seven acres, be it more or less; which said estate, it is my will and desire should be equitably and advantageously divided between them, according to quantity, quality, and other circumstances, when the youngest shall have arrived at the age of twenty-one years, by three judicious and disinterested men; one to be chosen by each of the brothers, and the third by these two. In the mean time, if the termination of my wife's interest therein should have ceased, the profits arising therefrom are to be applied for their joint uses and benefit. Third. And whereas it has always been my intention, since my expectation of having issue has ceased, to consider the grand-children of my wife in the same light as I do my own relations, and to act a friendly part by them, more especially by the two whom we have raised from their earliest infancy, namely, Eleanor Park Custis, and George Washington Park Custis, and whereas the former of these hath lately intermarried with Lawrence Lewis, a son of my deceased sister, Betty Lewis, by which union the inducement to provide for them both has been increased. Wherefore, I give and bequeath to the said Lawrence Lewis, and Eleanor Park Lewis, his wife, and their heirs, the residue of my Mount Vernon Estate, not already devised to my nephew, Bushrod Washington, comprehended within the following description, viz. all the land north of the road leading from the ford of Dogue Run to the Gum Spring, as described in the devise of