The Character of George Washington
His heart was not warm in its affections;* but he exactly calculated every man’s value, and gave him a solid esteem proportioned to it. His person, you know was fine, his stature exactly what one would wish; his deportment easy, erect, and noble, the best horseman of his age, and the most graceful figure that could be seen on horseback.*
Although in the circle of his friends, where he might be unreserved with safety, he took a free share in conversation, his colloquial talents* were not above mediocrity, possessing neither copiousness of ideas, nor fluency of words. In public, when called on for a sudden opinion, he was unready, short, and embarrassed. Yet he wrote readily, rather diffusely, in an easy and correct style. This he had acquired by conversation with the world, for his education was merely reading, writing, and common arithmetic,* to which he added surveying at a later day.*
* George married Martha Dandridge Custis, who had been widowed in 1757 when only twenty-six, at her home on January 6th, 1759. In a letter shortly written afterwards, Washington declared “I am now I believe fixed at this seat with an agreeable Consort for life and hope to find more happiness in retirement than I ever experienced amidst a wide and bustling World.” A friend would later observe that “Mrs Washington is excessive fond of the General and he of her. They are very happy in each other.”
* Washington rode for recreation and to hounds, and entered his own horses in races. His other field sports included duck hunting and fishing for sturgeon. Indoors, he enjoyed cards and billiards.
* ‘Colloquial talents’ means his ability to be an interesting talker in a group. ‘Colloquy’ is a formal term for a discussion or conversation.
* Washington’s two older half brothers (his father’s first wife had died), Lawrence and Augustine, had been sent to Appleby Grammar School in Cumbria for their education — their father had also been educated in England — but George had to be content with home schooling.
* Washington learnt the rudiments of surveying on his parents’ farm. In 1749, he took a job as a surveyor for the newly formed Culpeper County, probably thanks to neighbouring landowner William Fairfax (1691–1757). William’s cousin Thomas (1693-1781), Baron Cameron, sixth Lord Fairfax, lived on the same spread (it extended to 5m acres) and took a great interest in the young man’s development. George gave up his professional career as a surveyor in 1752, but continued using his skills on his own farm for many years.