Unimaginative and unromantic though he was, what visions must sometimes have swept through the brain of that simple farmer as he gazed down upon the broad shining river or beyond at the clustered Maryland hills glorified by the descending sun. Perchance in those visions he saw a youthful envoy braving hundreds of miles of savage wilderness on an errand from which the boldest might have shrunk without disgrace. Then with a handful of men in forest green it is given to that youth to put a Continent in hazard and to strike on the slopes of Laurel Hill the first blow in a conflict that is fought out upon the plains of Germany, in far away Bengal and on most of the Seven Seas. For an instant there rises the delirium of that fateful day with Braddock beside the ford of the Monongahela when "Down the long trail from the Fort to the ford, Naked and streaked, plunge a moccasined horde: Huron and Wyandot, hot for the bout; Shawnee and Ottawa, barring him out. "'Twixt the pit and the crest, 'twixt the rocks and the grass, Where the bush hides the foe and the foe holds the pass, Beaujeu and Pontiac, striving amain; Huron and Wyandot, jeering the slain," The years pass and the same figure grown older and more sedate is taking command of an army of peasantry at war with their King. Dorchester Heights, Brooklyn, Fort Washington, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Valley Forge, Monmouth, Morristown, the sun of Yorktown; Green, Gates, Arnold, Morgan, Lee, Lafayette, Howe, Clinton, Cornwallis--what memories! Lastly, a Cincinnatus grown bent and gray in service leaves his farm to head his country's civil affairs and give confidence and stability to an infant government by his wisdom and character. Here, with bared heads, let us take leave of him--a farmer, but "the greatest of good men and the best of great men." THE END INDEX Adams, Abigail, letter of husband to about Washington's retirement, 306. Adams, John: believes Washington was made by marriage with Custis money, 16; on Washington's retirement, 306. Ague, prevalence of along the Potomac, 65. Alfalfa, _see "Lucerne"_. Alton, John, a servant of Washington's, 170, 174, 175. Anderson, James: manager of Mount Vernon, 181, 182; sends list of the increase of slaves, 194; mentioned by Parkinson, 276; remains with Washington, 307; final instructions to, 315. _Anna_, brings indentured servants from Ireland, 167. _Annals of Agriculture_ used by Washington, 71, 72; nature of, 74; plan of drill published in, 107; Washington begins to read, 116; plan of barn in, 117; threshing machine described in, 126. _A Practical Treatise of Husbandry_: used by Washington, 71; its author, 73.