CHAPTER XI. The Loss of Philadelphia, and the Capture of Burgoyne. 325 CHAPTER XII. Concluding Scenes. 341 GEORGE WASHINGTON. CHAPTER I. _The Youth of George Washington._ Lawrence and John Washington--Their Emigration--Augustine Washington--His Marriage with Jane Ball--Birth of George--The Parental Home--The Scenery--Anecdotes--The Mother of Washington--Education--Lord Fairfax--The Surveying Tour--George at the age of seventeen years--The Mansion of Lord Fairfax--Contrast between the English and the French--British Desperadoes--The Ferocity of War--Military Organization--Claims of France and England--Scenes of Woe--Heroic Excursion of Washington to the Ohio. About two centuries ago there were two young men, in England, by the name of Lawrence and John Washington. They were gentlemen of refinement and education, the sons of an opulent and distinguished family. Lawrence was a graduate of Oxford University, and was, by profession, a lawyer. John entered into commercial and mercantile affairs, and was an accomplished man of business. The renown of Virginia, named after Elizabeth, England’s virgin queen, was then luring many, even of the most illustrious in wealth and rank, to the shores of the New World. Lawrence and John embarked together, to seek their fortunes on the banks of the Potomac.[1] It was a lovely morning in summer when the ship entered Chesapeake Bay, and sailing up that majestic inland sea, entered the silent, solitary, forest-fringed Potomac. Eagerly they gazed upon the Indian wigwams which were clustered upon the banks of many a sheltered and picturesque cove; and upon the birch canoes, which were propelled by the painted and plumed natives over the placid waters. The two brothers purchased an extensive tract of land, on the western bank of the Potomac, about fifty miles above its entrance into the bay. Here, with an estate of thousands of acres spreading around them, and upon a spot commanding a magnificent view of the broad river and the sublime forests, they reared their modest but comfortable mansion. John married Miss Pope. We have none of the details of their lives, full of incidents of intensest interest to them, but of little importance to the community at large. Life is ever a tragedy. From the times of the patriarchs until now, it has been, to most of the families of earth, a stormy day with a few gleams of sunshine breaking through the clouds. Children were born and children died. There were the joys of the bridal and the tears of the funeral.