At the moment of his death, Mrs. Washington sat in silent grief at the foot of his bed. “Is he gone?” she asked in a firm and collected voice. The physician, unable to speak, gave a silent signal of assent. “’Tis well,” she added, in the same untremulous utterance. “All is now over. I shall soon follow him. I have no more trials to pass through.” On the 18th, his remains were deposited in the tomb at Mount Vernon, where they now repose, enshrined in a nation’s love; and his fame will forever, as now, fill the world.[166] FOOTNOTES [1] “There is no doubt that the politics of the family determined the two brothers, John and Lawrence, to emigrate to Virginia; that colony being the favorite resort of the Cavaliers, during the government of Cromwell, as New England was the retreat of the Puritans, in the period which preceded the Commonwealth.”--_Life of Washington_, by Edward Everett, p. 24. [2] The pleasing story may easily be perverted. A little boy, having read it, deliberately took his hatchet, went into the garden, and utterly destroyed a valuable young pear tree. Then entering the house, he said, while his face was beaming with satisfaction, “Grandpapa, it was I who spoiled your pear tree.” Inexpressible was the astonishment and chagrin of my dear little grandson, on receiving a severe reprimand, and a prohibition from again going into the garden for a week. He could not understand why he should be censured, for that for which George Washington was so abundantly praised. [3] “During the last summer that he was at school, we find him surveying the fields around the school house, and in the adjoining plantations, of which the boundaries, angles, and measurements, the plots and calculations, are entered with formality and precision in his books. He used logarithms, and proved the accuracy of his work by different methods.”--Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 6. [4] There were fifty-four of these rules. All were important. We give a few as specimens. Read no letters, books, or papers, in company. But when there is a necessity for doing it you must ask leave. Show yourself not glad at the misfortune of another, though he were your enemy. Strive not with your superiors, in argument, but always submit your judgment to others with modesty. Use no reproachful language against any one. Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company. Speak not of doleful things in time of mirth, nor at the table. Speak not of melancholy things, as death and wounds, and if others mention them, change, if you can, the discourse. When another speaks, be attentive yourself, and disturb not the audience. If any hesitate in his words, help him not, nor prompt him without being desired. Interrupt him not, nor answer him till his speech be ended. Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.