From Farm House to the White House - 912 Freedom Library

Farm House to the White House, by William M. Thayer 125
condition to listen to his counsels. They were in the defiant state of intoxication, and refused to evacuate.
They declared themselves able and determined "to hold the fort."
The hero of Monongahela was not to be defied in that way. He adopted immediate measures to drive the mob
away, but was not successful. Finally, summoning his negroes, and organizing a campaign against them, he
forced them to leave, though, Irving says, "It took a campaign of three days to expel these invaders from the
premises."
At another time Washington was riding over his estate, when the report of a gun on the banks of the river, not
far away, startled him. Turning his horse in the direction of the report, he soon discovered an interloper in a
canoe, making havoc among the canvas-back ducks which were numerous on the river.
"Stranger," he called.
The hunter looked up.
"By what authority are you trespassing upon these grounds?"
The only reply that Washington received was, the hunter aimed his gun at him as if to fire. But the owner of
Mount Vernon had seen guns pointed at him before; and, nothing daunted, he dashed into the river, shouting,
"Fire if you dare!"
Seizing the painter of the canoe, he drew it to the shore; then, springing from his horse, he wrested the gun
from the hands of the astonished hunter.
"I am the proprietor of this estate," he shouted, seizing the fellow by the nape of his neck and pulling him out
of his canoe, "and we will see whose rights are to be regarded."
The hunter begged for mercy, promising to quit the grounds and never more trespass upon them. Washington
restored his gun to him, and allowed him to depart without further punishment.
Mr. and Mrs. Washington were active and influential members of the Episcopal Church. Irving says:
"The Episcopal Church predominated throughout the 'Ancient Dominion,' as it was termed. Each county was
divided into parishes, as in England, each with its parochial church, its parsonage, and glebe. Washington was
vestryman of two parishes,--Fairfax and Truro. The parochial church of the former was at Alexandria, ten
miles from Mount Vernon; of the latter, at Pohick, about seven miles. The church at Pohick was rebuilt on a
plan of his own, and in a great measure at his expense. At one or other of these churches he attended every
Sunday, when the weather and the roads permitted. His demeanor was reverential and devout. Mrs.
Washington knelt during the prayers; he always stood, as was the custom at that time."
One of Mrs. Washington's biographers says of her:
"It is recorded of this devout Christian that never, during her life, whether in prosperity or adversity, did she
omit that daily self-communion and self-examination, and those private devotional exercises, which would
best prepare her for the self-control and self denial by which she was, for more than half a century, so
eminently distinguished. It was her habit to retire to her own apartment every morning after breakfast, there to
devote an hour to solitary prayer and meditation."
Mount Vernon was a home of prayer, of course. The presence of guests, however distinguished, never
modified the family devotions. These were among the essentials of good family government. In one of
Washington's orders sent to England is the following: