Shortly afterwards Washington withdrew for a while from military life. In 1759, he married Mrs. Martha Custis, a young widow with two small children and a large fortune. A short time after their marriage Colonel and Mrs. Washington, or Lady Washington, as she was called, retired to Mount Vernon, a fine estate of eight thousand acres which he had inherited from his brother Lawrence. His many visitors who expected to see a heroic figure could not have been disappointed in his personal appearance. Washington was a man of noble presence, six feet two in height, of dignified and courtly manners and a noble military air. With health and wealth, a happy home and all that makes life pleasant, he was enjoying his honors and the comforts of rural life. =202. Advancement in Political Honors.=--So high was the trust reposed by all in Washington that he was now elected to the Virginia legislature, the House of Burgesses, a signal proof of popular confidence. He always studied the business of every day carefully, though he seldom made speeches. When he first entered and took his seat, in 1759, the Speaker of the House rose and in eloquent language returned thanks to him in the name of the colony for his services during the war. Washington stood up to reply; blushed, stammered, trembled, and could not utter a word. "Sit down, Mr. Washington," said the Speaker with a smile; "your modesty equals your valor, and that surpasses the power of any language I possess." For the next sixteen years Washington's life passed quietly and contentedly. Then was heard the distant thunder of the coming Revolution. We may be sure that Washington studiously watched the course of events, and often went back to Mount Vernon from the public meetings with an anxious mind. =203. Becomes Commander-in-Chief of the American Army.=--Soon a problem presented itself before the Continental Congress of which Washington was a member. Who shall be chosen Commander-in-Chief of our armies? Who shall be singled out for this most difficult task? There was one man to whom all turned. On a motion of John Adams of Massachusetts the choice was George Washington--"a gentleman from Virginia who is among us, and very well known to all of us." The choice was unanimous. It was a spontaneous tribute to his superior military experience and skill; to the strength and purity of his character, the ardor and unselfishness of his patriotism, and the perfect confidence which his whole career had inspired. Washington, in the course of his brief and modest speech of acceptance, said his service would be freely given without salary, asking that only his expenses be paid, and of which he would keep a careful record. His expense-books, kept during the Revolution in his own neat handwriting, are still carefully preserved. With the promptness which was a part of his self-training, he began at once his new duties. In a few days, as we have read in Chapter XII, he took command of the patriot army at Cambridge.