o be a merchant and
yet have so much land; the Colonel replied, that if Mr. Young had the
same land to cultivate, it would make a great fool of _him_. The Colonel
did me the honour to say I was the only man he ever knew to treat
General Washington with frankness.

The General's cattle at that time were all in poor condition: except his
mules (bred from American mares), which were very fine, and the Spanish
ass sent to him as a present by the king of Spain. I felt myself much
vexed at an expression used at dinner by Mrs. Washington. When the
General and the company at table were talking about the fine horses and
cattle I had brought from England, Mrs. Washington said, "I am afraid,
Mr. Parkinson, you have brought your fine horses and cattle to a bad
market; I am of opinion that our horses and cattle are good enough for
our land." I thought that if every old woman in the country knew this,
my speculation would answer very ill: as I perfectly agreed with Mrs.
Washington in sentiment; and wondered much, from the poverty of the
land, to see the cattle good as they were.

The General wished me to stay all night; but having some other
engagement, I declined his kind offer. He sent Colonel Lear out after I
had parted with him, to ask me if I wanted any money; which I
gladly accepted.

CHAPTER XVI

PROFIT AND LOSS

A biographer whose opinions about Washington are usually sound concludes
that the General was a failure as a farmer. With this opinion I am
unable to agree and I am inclined to think that in forming it he had in
mind temporary financial stringencies and perhaps a comparison between
Washington and the scientific farmers of to-day instead of the juster
comparison with the farmers of that day. For if Washington was a
failure, then nine-tenths of the Southern planters of his day were also
failures, for their methods and results were much worse than his.

It must be admitted, however, that comparatively little of his fortune,
which amounted at his death to perhaps three-quarters of a million
dollars, was made by the sale of products from his farm. Few farmers
have grown rich in that way. Washington's wealth was due in part to
inheritance and a fortunate marriage, but most of all to the increment
on land. Part of this land he received as a reward for military
services, but much of it he was shrewd enough to buy at a low rate and
hold until it became more valuable.

The task of analyzing his fortune and inco