g
intellect, and a deep-seated passion for enterprise, listening to such
conversations with a kindling spirit and a growing desire for military
life. In this way most probably was produced that desire to enter the
navy which he evinced when about fourteen years of age. The great
difficulty was to procure the assent of his mother. She was brought,
however, to acquiesce; a midshipman's warrant was obtained; but at the
eleventh hour the mother's heart faltered. This was her eldest born. A
son, whose strong and steadfast character promised to be a support to
herself and a protection to her other children. The thought of his
being completely severed from her, and exposed to the hardships and
perils of a boisterous profession, overcame even her resolute mind,
and at her urgent remonstrances the nautical scheme was given up.

To school, therefore, George returned, and continued his studies for
nearly two years longer, devoting himself especially to mathematics,
and accomplishing himself in those branches calculated to fit him
either for civil or military service. Among these, one of the most
important in the actual state of the country was land surveying. In
this he schooled himself thoroughly, using the highest processes of
the art; making surveys about the neighborhood, and keeping regular
field books, some of which we have examined, in which the boundaries
and measurements of the fields surveyed were carefully entered, and
diagrams made, with a neatness and exactness as if the whole related
to important land transactions instead of being mere school exercises.
Thus, in his earliest days, there was perseverance and completeness in
all his undertakings. Nothing was left half done, or done in a hurried
and slovenly manner. The habit of mind thus cultivated continued
throughout life. He took a final leave of school in the autumn of
1747, and went to reside with his brother Lawrence at Mount Vernon.
Here he continued his mathematical studies and his practice in
surveying. Being a favorite of Sir William Fairfax, he was now an
occasional inmate of Belvoir. Among the persons at present residing
there was Thomas, Lord Fairfax, cousin of William Fairfax, and of
whose immense landed property the latter was the agent. Another inmate
was George William Fairfax, about twenty-two years of age, the eldest
son of the proprietor. He had been educated in England, and since his
return had married a daughter of Colonel Carey, of Hampton, on Ja