t Williamsburg.

Having attended in person to the distribution of ordnance and stores,
the departure of prisoners, and the embarkation of the troops under
Lincoln, Washington left Yorktown on the 5th of November, and arrived
the same day at Eltham, the seat of his friend Colonel Bassett. He
arrived just in time to receive the last breath of John Parke Custis,
the son of Mrs. Washington. The deceased had been an object of
Washington's care from childhood, and had been cherished by him with
paternal affection. Formed under his guidance and instructions, he had
been fitted to take a part in the public concerns of his country, and
had acquitted himself with credit as a member of the Virginia
Legislature. He was but twenty-eight years old at the time of his
death, and left a widow and four young children. It was an unexpected
event, and the dying scene was rendered peculiarly affecting from the
presence of the mother and wife of the deceased. As a consolation to
Mrs. Washington in her bereavement, Washington adopted the two
youngest children of the deceased, a boy and girl, who thenceforth
formed a part of his immediate family.

From Eltham, Washington proceeded to Mount Vernon; but public cares
gave him little leisure to attend to his private concerns. We have
seen how repeatedly his steady mind had been exercised in the darkest
times of the revolutionary struggle, in buoying up the public heart
when sinking into despondency. He had now an opposite task to perform,
to guard against an overweening confidence inspired by the recent
triumph. In a letter to General Greene, he writes: "I shall remain but
a few days here, and shall proceed to Philadelphia, when I shall
attempt to stimulate Congress to the best improvement of our late
success, by taking the most vigorous and effectual measures to be
ready for an early and decisive campaign the next year. My greatest
fear is, that Congress, viewing this stroke in too important a point
of light, may think our work too nearly closed, and will fall into a
state of languor and relaxation."

Towards the end of November, Washington was in Philadelphia, where
Congress received him with distinguished honors. He lost no time in
enforcing the policy respecting the ensuing campaign, which he had set
forth in his letter to General Greene. His views were met by the
military committee of Congress, with which he was in frequent
consultation, and by the secretaries of war, finance, and public