CHAPTER XIV. RETURN TO QUIET LIFE.-FRENCH AND ENGLISH PREPARE FOR HOSTILITIES. -PLAN OF A CAMPAIGN.-GENERAL BRADDOCK.-HIS CHARACTER.-SIR JOHN ST. CLAIR, QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL.-HIS TOUR OF INSPECTION. -PROJECTED ROADS.-ARRIVAL OF BRADDOCK.-MILITARY CONSULTATIONS AND PLANS.-COMMODORE KEPPEL AND HIS SEAMEN.-SHIPS AND TROOPS AT ALEXANDRIA.-EXCITEMENT OF WASHINGTON.-INVITED TO JOIN THE STAFF OF BRADDOCK.-A MOTHER'S OBJECTIONS.-WASHINGTON AT ALEXANDRIA.- GRAND COUNCIL OF GOVERNORS.-MILITARY ARRANGEMENTS. -COLONEL WILLIAM JOHNSON.-SIR JOHN ST. CLAIR AT FORT CUMBERLAND HIS EXPLOSIONS OF WRATH.-THEIR EFFECTS.-INDIANS TO BE ENLISTED.-CAPTAIN JACK AND HIS BAND OF BUSH-BEATERS. AVING resigned his commission, and disengaged himself from public affairs, Washington's first care was to visit his mother, inquire into the state of domestic concerns, and attend to the welfare of his brothers and sisters. In these matters he was ever his mother's adjunct and counselor, discharging faithfully the duties of an eldest son, who should consider himself a second father to the family. He now took up his abode at Mount Vernon, and prepared to engage in those agricultural pursuits, for which, even in his youthful days, he had as keen a relish as for the profession of arms. Scarcely had he entered upon fusal of Governor Dinwiddie to give up the French prisoners, taken in the affair of De Jumonville, in fulfillment of the articles of capitulation. His plea was, that, since the capitulation, the French had taken several British subjects, and sent them prisoners to Canada, he considered himself justifiable in detaining those Frenchmen which he had in his custody. He sent a flag of truce, however, offering to return the officer Drouillon, and the two cadets, in exchange for Captains Stobo and Van Braam, whom the French held as hostages; but his offer was treated with merited disregard. Washington felt deeply mortified by this obtuseness of the governor on a point of military punctilio and honorable faith, but his remonstrances were unavailing. The French prisoners were clothed and maintained at the public expense, and Drouillon and the cadets were allowed to go at large; the private soldiers were kept in confinement. La Force, also, not having acted in a military capacity, and having offended against the peace and security of the frontier, by his intrigues among the Indians, was kept in close durance. Washington, who knew nothing of this, was shocked on visiting Williamsburg to learn that La Force was in prison. He expostulated with the governor on the subject, but without effect; Dinwiddie was at all times pertinacious, but particularly so when he felt himself to be a little in the wrong. As we shall have no further occasion to mention La ADVENTURE OF LA FORCE. 185 Force, in connection with the subject of this work, we will anticipate a page of his fortunes. After remaining two years in confinement he succeeded in breaking out of prison, and escaping into the country. An alarm was given, and circulated far and wide, for such was the opinion of his personal strength, desperate courage, wily cunning, and great influence over the Indians, that the most mischievous results were apprehended should he regain the frontier. In the meantime he was wandering about the country, ignorant of the roads, and fearing to make inquiries, lest his foreign tongue should betray him. He reached King and Queen Court House, about thirty miles from Williamsburg, when a countryman was struck with his foreign air and aspect. La Force ventured to put a question as to the distance and direction of Fort Duquesne, and his broken English convinced the countryman of his being the French prisoner, whose escape had been noised about the country. Watching an opportunity he seized him, and regardless of offers of great bribes, conducted him back to the prison of Williamsburg, where he was secured with double irons, and chained to the floor of his dungeon. The refusal of Governor Dinwiddie to fulfill the article of the capitulation respecting the prisoners, and the rigorous treatment of La Force, operated hardly upon the hostages, Stobo and Van Braam, who, in retaliation, were confined in prison in Quebec, though otherwise treated with kindness. They, also, by extraordinary ef forts, succeeded in breaking prison, but found it more difficult to evade the sentries of a fortified place. Stobo managed to escape into the country; but the luckless Van Braam sought concealment under an arch of a causeway leading from the fortress. Here he remained until nearly exhausted by hunger. Seeing the Governor of Canada passing by, and despairing of being able to effect his escape, he came forth from his hiding-place, and surrendered himself, invoking his clemency. He was remanded to prison, but experienced no additional severity. He was subsequently shipped by the governor from Quebec to England, and never returned to Virginia. It is this treatment of Van Braam, more than anything else, which convinces us that the suspicion of his being in collusion with the French in regard to the misinterpretation of the articles of capitulation, was groundless. He was simply a blunderer. CHAPTER XIV. RETURN TO QUIET LIFE.-FRENCH AND ENGLISH PREPARE FOR HOSTILITIES. CAMPAIGN.-GENERAL BRADDOCK.-HIS CHARACTER.-SIR -PLAN OF A JOHN ST. CLAIR, QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL.-HIS TOUR OF INSPECTION. -PROJECTED ROADS.-ARRIVAL OF BRADDOCK.-MILITARY CONSULTATIONS AND PLANS.-COMMODORE KEPPEL AND HIS SEAMEN.-SHIPS AND TROOPS AT ALEXANDRIA.-EXCITEMENT OF WASHINGTON, INVITED TO JOIN THE STAFF OF BRADDOCK.-A MOTHER'S OBJECTIONS.-WASHINGTON AT ALEXANDRIA. GRAND COUNCIL OF GOVERNORS.-MILITARY ARRANGEMENTS. -COLONEL WILLIAM JOHNSON.-SIR JOHN ST. CLAIR AT FORT CUMBERLAND HIS EXPLOSIONS OF WRATH.-THEIR EFFECTS.-INDIANS TO BE ENLISTED.-CAPTAIN JACK AND HIS BAND OF BUSH-BEATERS. AVING resigned his commission, and disengaged himself from public affairs, Washington's first care was to visit his mother, inquire into. the state of domestic concerns, and attend to the welfare of his brothers and sisters. In these matters he was ever his mother's adjunct and counselor, discharging faithfully the duties of an eldest son, who should consider himself a second father to the family. He now took up his abode at Mount Vernon, and prepared to engage in those agricultural pursuits, for which, even in his youthful days, he had as keen a relish as for the profession of arms. Scarcely had he entered upon |