In his Will, the following bequest is found, viz:-" To the trustees, governours, or by whatsoever other name they may be designated, of the academy in the town of Alexandria, I give and bequeath, in trust, four thousand dollars, or in other words, twenty of the shares which I hold in the bank of Alexandria, toward the support of a free-school, established at, and annexed to, the said academy, for the purpose of educating orphan children, or the children of such other poor and indigent persons as are unable to accomplish it with their own means, and who, in the judgment of the trustees of the said seminary, are best entitled to the benefit of this donation. The aforesaid twenty shares I give and bequeath in perpetuity, the dividends only of which are to be drawn for, and applied by the said trustees, for the time being, for the uses above mentioned, the stock to remain entire and untouched, unless indications of failure of the

ery, being on a visit at Mount Vernon, with my family, I mentioned the fact to him, at which he seemed to be at a loss, expressing his surprise that such a claim should have escaped him. When the conversation had ended, I remarked, in a jocular tone, that I had had a somewhat singular dream about that land, a few nights before. He asked me what is was. I replied, that I had dreamed he had made me a present of the tract. He smiled, and observed that my dreaming knack was a very convenient one, but why did I not dream at once that he had given me Mount Vernon? A few days after this, in setting out for my residence, the General accompanied myself and wife to the carriage, when in taking leave of us, he put into my hands a small slip of paper, requesting me to examine it at my leisure. Thinking it probably contained memoranda of some kind, relating to my agency, I put it into my pocket, and did not look at it for some time. When I did so, however, I was surprised to find, that in the space of six written lines, he had made me a conveyance of the land in county. The tract contained upwards of eleven hundred acres.

said bank should be so apparent, or a discontinuance thereof should render a removal of this fund necessary. In either of these cases, the amount of the stock here devised is to be vested in some other bank, or public institution, whereby the interest may with regularity and certainty be drawn and applied as above. And, to prevent misconception, my meaning is, and is hereby declared to be, that these twenty shares are in lieu of, and not in addition to, the £1000 given by a missive letter some years ago, in consequence whereof an annuity of £50 has since been paid towards the support of this institution."

Many other instances might here be added, of the benevolence of " the father of his country,"-the insertion of which, would especially evince one peculiarity marking his character, which was, that he did not, in every case, postpone them till death. He either thought it a duty, or desired to share the luxury of doing good in his life time. Besides the annuity secured by him, some years before his death, to the Alexandria free school, he also endowed "Liberty Hall Academy, Rockbridge County," now Washington College, with the sum of $10,000--the amount of stock given him by Virginia in the James River Company.

CHAPTER VIII.

HIS FILIAL LOVE.

THE obligations of filial affection have their foundation alike in the dictates of nature and of revelation. He that can wantonly violate them, in doing so, must trample on some of the plainest demands of moral propriety, and set at naught the most solemn injunctions of the Divine Word. In barbarous lands, indeed, this sacred duty has been cruelly disregarded, and thereby practically denied. There, has usage often authorized the child, in raising his parricidal arms against those who gave him birth; especially when age and infirmities rendered them unfit for the business of life, and a supposed burden to the community. But a far different standard of filial morality has been established in Christian lands, and of consequence a widely different practice prevails. Here, it is a duty of paramount obligation. Indeed so obvious and reasonable a one is it, that they are scarcely thought deserving of praise who discharge it, seeing its glaring neglect, would stamp the character with a mark of peculiar infamy. And yet, however monstrous a vice filial ingratitude may be, its existence is not so rare, as to

nder its opposite virtue without its claims to commenda

tion. There is certainly in the world a great deal of unkindness in children towards their parents,-enough to cause much unhappiness in the latter, if not to tarnish the characters of the former. They have a claim, then, to the tribute of our approbation, who, resisting every temptation to this sin, do faithfully and affectionately exemplify a virtue of such distinguished excellence, and important social effects as that of filial love.

"Every child," says a pious writer, "is bound to entertain the most respectful and reverential thoughts concerning his parents, and concerning the parental character. He is to remember, and regard his parents, as standing in the most venerable, and the most endearing, of all earthly relations to him; as those to whom, under God, he owes his being, and the great mass of his blessings, He is to regard them as the persons, to whose kindness, care, and government, he has been committed by God himself. He is to consider them as the best of all friends; the most affectionate, the most faithful, the most confidential, the most persevering, the most watchful, the most unwearied.

"The words uttered by children, which respect their parents in any manner, are to correspond with the thoughts, which have been here recommended, and, if effectual care is taken to make the thoughts right, the words will be right of course.

"The deportment of children, when their parents are present, ought to exhibit every mark of respect. The honour which God commands them to give, ought in the literal sense to be here invariably rendered without qualification, without reserve, without reluctance. However humble the station, the circumstances, the educa

tion, or the manners of parents may be ; the child instead of discovering that he is ashamed of them, is bound cheerfully to acknowledge their proper superiority; to exhibit towards them a respectful deference; and always to prevent even a remote suspicion, that he is reluctant to give them their proper place.

"When children have left their father's house; their circumstances become materially changed, and with them in several respects, their duties→→→

"Still, as they are more indebted to their parents than to any other human beings, and incomparably more indebted, at least in ordinary cases; their remaining duties to their parents are numerous and important. In this situation, more than any other, they are required to contribute to the maintenance of their parents. This is made by our Saviour so important a branch of the duty under consideration, that he declares the 'Pharisees,' who by a fraudulent comment on the fifth commandment, had released men from the obligation in question, to have made this command of God of none effect through their tradition.' In this period, also, they are bound as much as may be, to nurse and soothe their parents in pain and sickness; to bear patiently and kindly their infirmities of body and mind; to alleviate their distresses; to give them the cheering influence of their company and conversation; and in these and various other ways, to serene and brighten the evening, but too frequently a melancholy one, of old age."

That the subject of our present work was an example of this, as of many other virtues, we have very satisfactory ground of belief and assurance.