George White

“ The Courtship of George
Washington The quaint old steel engraving which shows George and Martha Washington sitting by a table, while the Custis children stand dutifully by, is a familiar picture in many households, yet few of us remember that the first Lady of the White House was not always first in the heart of her husband.
The years have brought us, as a people, a growing reverence for him who was in truth the “Father of His Country.” Time has invested him with godlike attributes, yet, none the less, he was a man among men, and the hot blood of youth ran tumultuously in his veins. ”

“ In the first place, it made travelling, which had been difficult, easier, the darkness often causing us to pitch headlong into pitfalls, and, on the other hand, the better light made a much surer mark of us, should we chance upon our enemies. As it was not within our power to control the queen o’ the night, we tramped on, taking a great chance of losing our liberty. Finally I decided to brave the bulldozing tactics of Jack Utley, and, addressing my words to George Wilson, though in a way to all, I said, “It’s sheer folly to expose ourselves like this!” ”

“ George was so white as easily to pass for a white man, and being somewhat ashamed of his African descent, he never once mentioned the fact of his having been a slave. He soon became a partner in the firm that employed him, and was now on the road to wealth. ”

“ The ancestor of the first Anthony White was sent to Virginia by Raleigh in 1587, as Governor of his colony. Returning the next year with supplies, he was defeated by Spanish vessels and obliged to return to England. In 1590 he found the colony of Roanoke deserted. Leonard (probably his son) , emigrated to Virginia in 1620. Governor White’s daughter was Virginia Dare, the first white child born in the New World. One of his brothers, Sir John White, also went to Bermuda, probably in 1609, with Sir George Somers. ”

“ Let us now examine the record made, and call to our assistance the statistics of the Government that we may truthfully answer the question, can the Negro succeed as a business man? We are indebted to ex-Congressman George H. White for the information that since the dawn of our freedom the race has reduced its illiteracy at least 45 per cent; that we have written and published nearly 500 books; have edited fully 300 newspapers; have 2,000 lawyers at the bar, a corresponding number of practicing physicians, and 32,000 school teachers. ”

“ If there was a thing on earth that they did not intend to assert, it was that a Negro was a White man. As I said here, a short time ago, one of the greatest charges they made against the British Government was, that old King George was attempting to establish the fact practically that all men were created Free and Equal. ”

“ Such was the popularity of Whitefield, that when he left the city, about one hundred and fifty gentlemen accompanied him as far as Chester, fifteen miles from Philadelphia, where he preached to about seven thousand people. At White Clay creek, he preached to eight thousand people, three thousand of whom, it is said, were on horseback. Many complimentary effusions to him appeared in the newspapers, and James Pemberton, a very distinguished Friend, said of him, "In his conversation he is very agreeable, and has not much of the priest; he frequents no set company." ”

“ It was the first time that ever George had sat down on equal terms at any white man's table; and he sat down, at first, with some constraint and awkwardness; but they all exhaled and went off like fog, in the genial morning rays of this simple, overflowing kindness.
This, indeed, was a home,—home,—a word that George had never yet known a meaning for; ”

“ The sky was cloudless and the stars shone brilliantly, and as the night wore on to morning the full moon swept up from the bosom of the ocean and spread a broad expanse of silver which made it possible to discover anything within a mile or more in shape of a ship. ”

“ Sunrise is accompanied by the highest degree of splendour in these alpine regions, lighting up the mountain-brows with gold, and flinging over the snowy range those gorgeous hues which the hand of nature alone can create. ”

“ The river gathers foam as it goes surging along, and while flinging up dense masses of spray, which descend again in silvery showers, roars and rages with terrific violence, sending forth wrathful sounds like the angry messages of some incensed deity, which tell of impending ruin. ”

“ Then followed a recital of the work to be done by the local Klan. The Kligrapp consulted a sheet of paper in his hand.
“The eye that never sleeps has been seeking out those in our city who have acted in a manner displeasing to the Invisible Empire. There is in Central City a nigger wench named Nancy Ware who has been saying evil things against our brother, George Parker. In the name of our sacred order, and in the furtherance of our supreme duty of preservation of white supremacy, she is being watched and will be treated so as to end her dangerous utterances.” ”

“ Emerging, we obtained a noble view of a snowy mountain, and, climbing again, entered a forest of pines which led us along a high ridge overhanging the river, and afforded at every opening the most enchanting views possible, the mountains being wooded to their summits, and shewing every rich variety of foliage as they swept along in graceful undulations, now in dark shadow, and now glittering in sunshine. ”

“ That we may have a clear and comprehensive view of the labors and success of George Whitefield, it is important that we consider the moral condition of Great Britain and its dependencies when the Head of the church brought him on the field of action. ”

“ His congregation at the Tabernacle had been much scattered during his absence; Antinomianism had made sad havoc among the people; and one of this party threatened to rival him in Moorfields. Whitefield sent him word, "The fields are no doubt as free to you as to another. God send you a clear head and a clean heart. I intend preaching there on Sunday evening." He did so; and found "Moorfields as white to harvest as ever." Our evangelist was again called to mourn the evils of poverty. ”

“ On the right, the snowy ranges shoot up their hoary peaks to a tremendous height, while to the left the inferior chains extend far and wide, shewing an endless variety of forms, all clothed in a mantle of green, the luxuriant herbage darkening into forests of pine, and the whole fertilized by innumerable streams. ”

“ A little silvery stream bubbles from the rocks above, and trickles over the elastic turf, its murmuring course defined by a belt of violets and cowslips, whilst ferns of every variety are dancing gracefully in the breeze, and dipping their feathered heads in the tiny wave as it sparkles on its way. ”

“ The noise baffles all description; the shouts and cries of men come mingled with the neighing of horses, the trumpeting of elephants, the grunts of camels, the lowing of cattle, the bellowing of bulls the screams of birds, and the loud sharp roars of the wild beasts ”

“ At length, three miles below Sungla its savage beauty is completed, as, suddenly contracting in breadth, it forces its passage through a frightful chasm, so narrow as to admit of one of the rude native bridges being thrown across it, and, bounding from rock to rock, it flings itself in fearful torrents over the gigantic obstructions which chafe, but cannot delay it in its rapid flight. ”

“ Sometimes we seated ourselves upon banks of violets of the richest blue, and surrounded by luxuriant vegetation of fruit and flowers, the strawberry spreading itself far and wide, and raspberry, blackberry, and black currant bushes forming a perfect garden. ”

“ At our halting-place near the village of Ozree, on the road to Kursalee, the immense assemblage of mountains, range swelling upon range, again forcibly brought the image to our minds of the waves of a mighty ocean lashed into fury, and rearing their billows on high, until, suddenly checked by an all-powerful hand, they ceased their wrath, and, stilled into sullen majesty, became gigantic masses of earth and rock. ”

“ The sighing of the wind through the trees, the call of a bird, or the murmuring of some far-off stream, alone breaks the solitary stillness, until, while absorbed in the sublime reveries which the scene is so well calculated to produce, we are suddenly startled by the crack of a rifle, fired by the most determined of the sportsmen at some wild animal, presenting itself in too tempting a situation to be resisted. ”

“ The pure dazzling whiteness of the regions of eternal snow, give occasionally so cloud-like an appearance to the towering summits, as to induce the belief that they form a part of the heaven to which they aspire; while in other states of the atmosphere they stand out in bold relief, either catching the rays of the sun, and reflecting a golden tint, or rearing their lofty points, white with the unsullied snow of ages, against a darkened sky, shewing that while all else on earth is liable to change, they endure immutable and for ever. ”

“ From the summit of a neighbouring promontory we obtained one of those striking views which so much delight the lovers of the picturesque, but which, though they fill the bosom with strange and thrilling emotions, would be unfitted for canvass. The pure white pyramid of one of the highest of the snowy range, towering in bold relief to the clear heaven, which it seemed to touch, contrasted finely with the dark hills in front, yet with so abrupt a transition, that persons who never beheld so novel an effect, would fancy any attempt to portray it, to be some wild vagary on the part of the artist. ”

“ Dazzled by the attempt to distinguish minute and distant objects, we turn with delight to the rich yet sober tints of the surrounding hills, their splendid purples and browns, with here and there the sun bringing out some brighter foliage, while below the landscape assumes a different style of beauty. ”

“ From another point the eye embraces that splendid range of mountains, through which the sacred river forces its impetuous course, now fretting along a narrow channel which it has worn amid the rocks, and now flinging itself down in glittering volumes from height to height, until, at length emerging to the view, it is seen winding and wandering along the level country, a thread of silver which the eye follows till it is lost in the distance. ”

“ Throughout its whole mountain course, this fertilizing river constantly presents some beautiful or inspiring scene, its banks, though rocky and precipitous, and of the wildest character, being diversified with splendid foliage, while in some places the smiling stream glides along the bases of green slopes, rich with cultivation, and of the brightest verdure; and continually crossed by ravines, beautiful valleys may be approached on either side, teeming with every product that nature has given for the use or the enjoyment of man. ”

“ Early in the morning, before a single sunbeam has illumined the dark deep twilight of the sky, they rise in solemn majesty, the icy outline being distinctly defined, while they stand out from the grey atmosphere around—anon a tint of amber spreads over them, and, divested of their chilling grandeur, they come out warm and glowing: again they shew like cold bright silver in the sun, while in the evening they are all crimson with the rose that flushes through the sky: a single mile, nay, even a single turn of the road, sufficing to invest them with new shapes and new peculiarities. ”

“ Those who have brains and nerves to bear the frightful whirl, which may assail the steadiest head, plant themselves on the bridge that spans the torrent, and from this point survey the wild and awful grandeur of the scene, struck with admiration at its terrific beauty, yet, even while visions of horror float before them, unable to withdraw their gaze. ”

“ Two inferior belts, divided from each other by deep intersecting vales, appear tier above tier, the pyramidal snow-capped heights, which seem to lift themselves into another world, crowning the whole with almost awful majesty. ”

“ Janghera, thus happily placed between the rugged scenery of the upper provinces, and the smiling landscapes of Bengal, partakes of the nature of both: the Ganges spreads itself like a sea at the foot of the rock, which on the land-side overlooks a wide expanse of fertile country, having for a back-ground the low ranges of hills which separate Behar from Bengal. ”

“ Directly in front of me, the monument to a monumental man: George Washington, Father of our country. A man of humility who came to greatness reluctantly. He led America out of revolutionary victory into infant nationhood. Off to one side, the stately memorial to Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration of Independence flames with his eloquence.
And then beyond the Reflecting Pool the dignified columns of the Lincoln Memorial. Whoever would understand in his heart the meaning of America will find it in the life of Abraham Lincoln.
Beyond those monuments to heroism is the Potomac River, and on the far shore the sloping hills of Arlington National Cemetery with its row on row of simple white markers bearing crosses or Stars of David. ”

“ I haven’t the least doubt that a man, a stranger in fact, walking hatless in a fellow’s premises about dark, is an occurrence not quite of the common order. It was gratifying to me to know that night had set in enough to hide from him the clay-washed clothing I wore and the abundance of hayseed and dust that did anything but adorn my hair. ”

“ As the daylight advances, the whole of the chain flushes with a deeper dye, the grand forms of the nearer mountains emerge, and night slowly withdrawing her obscuring veil, a new enchantment decks the scene: the effects of the light and shadows are not less beautiful than astonishing, defining distant objects with a degree of sharpness and accuracy which is almost inconceivable: and until the sun is high up in the heavens, the lower ranges of the mountains appear to be of the deepest purple hue, while others, tipped with gold, start out from their dark back-ground in bold and splendid relief. ”