[Footnote 40: George Steptoe Washington was the son of Washington's brother Samuel, after whose death he became the guardian of his two younger boys. His education was finished at the Philadelphia College. He was a member of Washington's staff, was one of the executors of Washington, and inherited one of his swords. "To each of my nephews, William Augustine Washington, George Lewis, George Steptoe Washington, Bushrod Washington and Samuel Washington, I give one of the swords or conteaux of which I may die possessed; and they are to choose in the order they are named. These swords are accompanied with an injunction not to unsheath them for the purpose of shedding blood, except it be for self-defence or in defence of their country, and its rights; and in the latter case, to keep them unsheathed, and prefer falling with them in their hands to the relinquishment thereof."--From an old print of the Will of George Washington. George Steptoe Washington chose the sword sent to Washington by Theophilus Alte, of Sollinger, near Düsseldorf. Its history is partly given in the following letter from Washington to John Quincy Adams, then United States Minister to The Hague: "To John Quincy Adams. "Phila, 12 September, 1796. "Dear Sir: "To open a correspondence with you on so trifling a subject as that which gives birth to this letter would hardly be justifiable, were it not for the singularity of the case. This singularity will, I hope, apologize for the act. "Some time ago, perhaps two or three months, I read in some gazette, but was so little impressed with it at the time (conceiving it to be one of those things that get into newspapers, nobody knows how or why), that I cannot now recollect whether this gazette was of American or foreign production, announcing that a celebrated artist had presented, or was about to present to the President of the United States a sword of masterly workmanship, as an evidence of his veneration, etc. "I thought no more of the matter afterwards until a gentleman with whom I have no acquaintance, coming from and going to I know not where at a tavern I never could get information of, came across this sword (for it is presumed to be the same), pawned for $30, which he paid, left it in Alexandria, nine miles from my home in Virginia, with a person who refunded him the money and sent me the sword. "This is all I have been able to learn of this curious affair. "The blade is highly wrought and decorated with many military emblems. It has my name engraved thereon, and the following inscription, translated from the Dutch: