OCR Text |
Show Www mnmmmMm 4 jf-y IIIUSTMAS at Mount Vernon In Uie 3r W peaceful days which followed the Revo-J Revo-J lutlon was always exceedingly merry. The Virginians of those days, being t& 4f t cavaliers, made tbo most of the holiday ys which the grim Puritans of Nw Kng-knd Kng-knd Ignored. )rO 11 R t'ai,on f profuse hospitality. , (fv H"t In all the northern neck of Vlr-Jf Vlr-Jf glnla no houie vii the scene of more joyous doing thnn that of George Washington. Often mere strungers, Waring letters of Introduction, came and went at will, sometimes staying for weoks, or even months. Though stern, WaoMngton could ui.bend considerably consider-ably on such t. wraslon. He was getting to be a'? wb-"""""'- ,old man, and his adopted fj-son. fj-son. George us.tls, de- U jtJlb' ) scribes blm as wearing tf$Xi"v tv ' habitually at that nerlod jf J J;,.r-V -,' ffaln drab clothes, with I Wl'vLi.Jt, JV, broad brimmed whlU hat, Iff j'fXr V t TtiX carrying an umbrelia 1R. ' ""' ,7T V VTth "a fajj aached i 1 ' -'y-jf toMi laddie bo when be If . , W IB.TtW lira from, 1 ?J,Ci .the sun, his fktn being It tedcr anf Curnliifc easily. 'f ' - , - f z , While yet a young man it ' :3'' he had Inherited the IS ' ' ' ' ' '.S " V' Mount Vernon .estate from ll .''" ' ' i 5 " , his half brother. The I k,(. -,Z' " ' house was much smnller l 't5 , ., ''' than It Is today, being h JfT n , what was then called a 14 Wc "four-room cottngo" that ft t J t t, .;. 1 Is to say. with only that IfP-fp,' -,;- many rooms on the ground ,;-floor. ,;-floor. It had been built In If ,,""" '.'mc' 1743 by Uwreiire Wash- 1 .' . - V' Ington by the labor of ' I., '': AVvVi;,? transported convicts from , - v vi . t ', ':. . " ' j v! 'r , iwSII .I I -ill ft A . "1 ri rrt i 'v"- -r ,rV7rVr--r ,vri m Cfr1 iYYt Twi niri -nO One may view the scene In imagination, as, the moment having arrived for an Important act of ceremony, Washington rises to his feet from his place at the table, holding a glass of Madeira In his hand. He is a very tall man, two Inches above six feet In height and large of frame. His noso Is slightly aquiline, his mouth broad, his chin square, his cheek bones high, und his complexion com-plexion rather florid. He is dressed In a suit of costly black velvet, with knee breeches, black silk stockings, and silver buckles on his shoes. At his wrists are fine lace rullies, and hla hair Is drawn back and done up behind In queue. "OenfJin." he says, bowing right and left, "I drfnEt uTu'f guests!" The natural response, at tho instance or tne most distinguished guest present, Is a ""altn drunk to Ijidy Washington. This Is followed, perhaps, by five or ten minutes of general conversation conver-sation after which Mrs. Washington gives the signal' by pushing back her chair, and the women rise to take their departure. The General himself walks to the door, throwing It wide open, and each of the ladles courtesies deeply as she goes out, In response to the bows of the host and the other men. If when the time comes to rejoin the Indies, two'or three of the guests find themselves hardly In a condition to do so, they are handed over to the care of the African major domo, who sees that they are put to bed. Such things are bound to happen occasionally, and It Is not likely that any of the women will have the bad tact to ask what ha become of them. There Is a good long evening, which, appropriately appropri-ately to Christmas. Is given up to a romp. Such old-fashioned games as blind man's buff and bunt the slipper furnish Incidental opportunities for much incidental flirtation and love making Ter-haps Ter-haps there may even be a kissing game. or two; and a spray of mistletoe fastened over a doorway gives excuse for some osculation and a great deal of merriment. It Is all very delightful. Christmas Christ-mas gifts are exhibited, and Nellie CuBtls, It Is likely, ploys a bit on her harpsichord. A negro fiddler, one of the slaves on the estate, in picturesque plantation garb, starts some merry music, while the young people choose partners for the dance. Hut the older ladles and gentlemen gentle-men prefer cards, and sit about little tables, shuffling and dealing The host himself plays, for small stakes only, gambling for money to considerable amounts being one of the vices he most abhors. As for Mrs. Washington, she talks to a neighbor and knits When not otherwise busily occupied she always has knitting In hrr hands, having acquired the hnl.lt In camp during the Revolution, when she made stockings for destitute des-titute soldiers. Fortunately, the frame, or setting, as It mlgM be called, of the Chrl-tmns festivities her- de scribed In fuch crude outline Is still preserved Intact, thanks to the efforts of a few patriotic women who have mid; this their loving task The I'nlted States government has never paid one rent to keep the home of Wnshlncton from destruction. Many years ao coticres refused tr. give the money to buy It. Hut in the hand of the Mount Vernon Association the historic mansion man-sion and Its Immediate surrounding are kept In such excellent repair that Mount Vernon today Is practUally as It whs more than a century o. when tleorge and his wife. Martha, ker t o en house anj offered a generous hospitality, not only at Cbrts'uiastlde but at all other reasons of the year England, the main timbers being cut from the nearby forest, while the outer sheathing of North Carolina pine was hewn Into blocks to resemble stone. There were about a dozen bedrooms, all of them small, and doubtless they were rather crowded at Christmas time some of the people, Tery likely, "doubling up." All of the rooms bad low ceilings; there was no paper on the walls; water pipes of all kinds were conspicuous by their absence; no furnace heated the mansion (there were no stoves, Indeed), and the only Illumination Il-lumination In the evening was furnished by candles. can-dles. Yet, as things went In those days, this was a luxurious establishment. The Christmas dinner was at S o'clock In the "banquet ball," and probably twenty five or thirty people tst down to the repast The table waa covered with a snowy damask cloth, and there were fine linen napkins both being luxuries rather rath-er exceptional In those days. Hut this was by no means all. There was a handsome service of pure silver, most of which had belonged to the widow Custls when she married Mr. Washington, and also there was a big dlsplny of rut glass even more precious. Most remarkable of all, however, there were real sliver forks a rarity Indeed! Ladies and gentlemen ate with their knives In those days In a way that would now be considered consid-ered shocking. It was a matter al.nost of necessity. neces-sity. Inasmuch as the forks they used, which had only three tines, did not serve very well for some purposes, such as the carrying of reas to the mouth, for example It Is painful to think of the Father of His Cout.try at his Christmas dinner putting his knife lntu the mouth, but there Is no doubt that he did ao. Another oddity, as nowadays now-adays It would be considered, was the arrangement arrange-ment of the table, upon which all the dishes to be served. Including even the puddings and pies, were placed at once. No wonder that In those times a festive board was said to "groan" beneath the weight of the viands! As a matter of course, at the Christmas dinner (as on other occasions) the table waa waited upon by alavea, who did duty as house servants. Two were allotted to each guest, so that quite a number num-ber were required. All of the eatables had to be fetched a considerable distance, the kitchen being detached from the mansion, with which It was connected by a covered way. At the bouses of the great Virginia families at that period It was customary for the slavesto wait on the table In their ordinary plantation garb Hut at Mount Vernon many thlncs were on a scnle of exceptional luxury, and the negroes who performed such service wcie clad In Washington's Washing-ton's own livery of red, white and gold, which was handsome and striking One may aupiMise, then, that the conversation at the Christmas dinner was more than ordinarily entertaining. As a matter of course, everybody . was hungry; for. according to the custom of those days, there were only two meals breakfast, which was early, and dinner. The necessity for supper was removed by a great prolongation of the dinner, at which each person was expected to eat all thRt ho or she possibly could. In fact. It was the duty of the hostess gently to persuade her guests to gorge themselves to repletion, while the host made It his business to press wine and other drinkables upon the men to sn extent which in these times would bo considered moot Imprudent. Im-prudent. The ladles, however, drank little or nothing Fo fnr as they were concerned, the prohibition of atlmulnnt was much more strict thnn It Is today a rather curious thing, when It Is considered how copiously the men Imbibed. As for the latter. lat-ter. If on occasions a gentleman took too much, the matter was politely ignored such an nod-dent, nod-dent, it was considered, being more or less likely to happen to anybody. Hut It si ould be understood under-stood that the really hard drinking was done, not while the ladies were present, but after the'r departure from the table |