he master's absence at the
seat of government. He was seized with alarming symptoms of pulmonary
disease early in 1792. He was greatly beloved by Washington, and his
sickness gave the president much pain, and was a frequent topic in
letters to his friends. To Lafayette he wrote as early as June, 1792:--

"I am afraid my nephew George, your old aid, will never have his
health perfectly re-established. He has lately been attacked with
the alarming symptoms of spitting large quantities of blood, and
the physicians give no hopes of restoration, unless it can be
effected by a change of air and a total dereliction from business,
to which he is too anxiously attentive. He will, if he should be
taken from his family and friends, leave three fine children, two
sons and a daughter. To the eldest of the boys he has given the
name of Fayette, and a fine-looking child he is."

To General Knox he wrote:--

"I thank you most sincerely for the medicine you were so obliging
as to send for my nephew, and for the sympathetic feeling you
express for his situation. Poor fellow! neither, I believe, will be
of any avail. Present appearances indicate a speedy dissolution. He
has not been able to leave his bed, except for a few moments to sit
in an arm-chair, since the fourteenth or fifteenth of last month.
The paroxysm of the disorder seems to be upon him, and death, or a
favorable turn to it, must speedily follow."

The sufferer was then residing upon a small estate in Hanover. He
lingered for several weeks, and then expired; and on the twenty-fourth
of February Washington wrote to his widow:--

"MY DEAR FANNY: To you, who so well knew the affectionate regard I
had for our departed friend, it is unnecessary to describe the
sorrow with which I was afflicted at the news of his death,
although it was an event I had expected many weeks before it
happened. To express this sorrow with the force I feel it, would
answer no other purpose than to revive in your breast that
poignancy of anguish, which by this time I hope is abated. The
object of this letter is to convey to your mind the warmest
assurance of my love, friendship, and disposition to serve you.
These I also profess to bear in an eminent degree for your
children."

He then invites her to make Mount Vernon the home of herself and
children. "You can