The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 02, No. 13, November, 1858: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and PoliticsVarious
History
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 02, No. 13, November, 1858: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics
Various
American periodicals
His summers were spent at Shadwell. The responsible charge of a
large estate rested upon him, and he introduced into his affairs and
studies the extraordinary system which, through life, he carried
into all matters, great or small. He commenced keeping a garden-book,
which, with interruptions caused by absence, was continued until he
was eighty-one years old. It contains memoranda of vegetable phenomena,
and statements of all kinds of information, in any way affecting the
economy of horticulture. He likewise kept a farm-book. His accounts
were noted, without the loss of a day, through his entire life, and
every item of personal expense was separately stated. We often find
entries like these: "11 d. paid to the barber,"--"4 d. for whetting
penknife,"--and "1s. put in the church-box." On the 4th of July, 1776,
we find:--"pd. Sparhawk, for a thermometer, £3 15s.--pd. for 7 prs.
women's gloves, 27s.--gave, in charity, 1s. 6d." His meteorological
register informs us, that, at 6 o'clock, A.M., of the same
memorable day, the mercury stood 68° above; at noon, at 76°; and at 9,
P.M., at 73-1/2°. Entries were regularly made in this register,
three times a day. Separate books were kept for special accounts,
like the expenses of the Presidential mansion. In addition, he made
minute records of observation in natural history, and a curious
"Statement of the Vegetable Market of Washington, during a Period of
Eight Years, wherein the Earliest and Latest Appearance of each
Article, within the whole Eight Years, is noted." This table mentions
_thirty-seven_ different articles, and was compiled during his
Presidency. He made a collection of the vocabularies of fifty Indian
languages, and two collocations of those passages in the New
Testament which contain the doctrines of Jesus. One of these,
entitled, "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth," is an octavo
volume, with a complete index. The texts are written out in Greek,
Latin, French, and English, and placed in parallel columns.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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