"I, who have been fighting for liberty, would appear finely in pursuit of a runaway slave!"
He freely expressed his abhorrence of slavery to Lafayette during the war; and when the latter purchased an estate in Cayenne, with the intention of freeing the slaves upon it, Washington wrote to him:
"Your late purchase is a generous and noble proof of your humanity. Would to God a like spirit might diffuse itself generally in the minds of the people of this country!"
His will provided for the emancipation of his slaves, so far as possible. "Under the tenure by which the dower negroes are held he could not manumit them." But the will ran thus:
"Upon the decease of my wife, it is my will and desire that all the slaves whom I hold in my own right shall receive their freedom."
After his death, Mrs. Washington proceeded to emancipate the slaves, agreeable to his wishes, at expressed in his last "will and testament."
XXIV.
DEATH, AND FUNERAL CEREMONIES.
In December, 1799, there came a cold, bleak morning, with drizzling rain and sleet.
"I would not go out this uncomfortable day," Mrs. Washington said to her husband, observing that he was preparing to go out to his daily task.