in that supercilious
assumption of superiority which sometimes overruns and degrades true
British pride, would have been spurned by Washington, as insulting to
the character and conduct of his high-minded brethren of the colonies.
Another cause of vexation to Washington was the refusal of Governor
Dinwiddie to give up the French prisoners, taken in the affair of De
Jumonville, in fulfillment of the articles of capitulation. His plea
was, that since the capitulation, the French had taken several British
subjects, and sent them prisoners to Canada, he considered himself
justifiable in detaining those Frenchmen which he had in his custody.
Washington felt deeply mortified by this obtuseness of the governor on
a point of military punctilio and honorable faith, but his
remonstrances were unavailing. La Force not having acted in a military
capacity, and having offended against the peace and security of the
frontier, by his intrigues among the Indians, was kept in close
durance.

The refusal of Governor Dinwiddie to fulfill the article of the
capitulation respecting the prisoners, and the rigorous treatment of
La Force, operated hardly upon the hostages, Stobo and Van Braam, who,
in retaliation, were confined in prison in Quebec.

CHAPTER VII.
A CAMPAIGN UNDER GENERAL BRADDOCK.

Having resigned his commission, and disengaged himself from public
affairs, Washington's first care was to visit his mother, inquire into
the state of domestic concerns, and attend to the welfare of his
brothers and sisters. In these matters he was ever his mother's
adjunct and counsellor, discharging faithfully the duties of an eldest
son, who should consider himself a second father to the family. He now
took up his abode at Mount Vernon, and prepared to engage in those
agricultural pursuits, for which, even in his youthful days, he had as
keen a relish as for the profession of arms. Scarcely had he entered
upon his rural occupations, however, when the service of his country
once more called him to the field.

The disastrous affair at the Great Meadows, and the other acts of
French hostility on the Ohio, had roused the attention of the British
ministry, who now prepared for military operations in America; none of
them professedly aggressive, but rather to resist and counteract
aggressions. A plan of campaign was devised for 1755, having four
objects: To eject the French from lands which they held unjustly, in
the province of Nova Scotia;