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210 many additions before Washington left it to attend the first Congress and thence to the command-in-chief of the armies of his country. He was accompanied to Cambridge by Mrs. Washington, who remained some time with him and witnessed the siege and evacuation of Boston, after which she returned to Virginia.

It was not often that the interest taken by Mrs. Washington in political affairs was evinced by any public expression, though an address which was read in the churches of Virginia and published in the Philadelphia paper in June, 1780, as "The Sentiments of an American Woman," was attributed—it cannot be ascertained with what truth—to her pen.

She passed the winters with her husband during his campaigns and it was the custom of the commander-in-chief to dispatch an aide-de-camp to escort Mrs. Washington to headquarters. Her arrival in camp was an event much anticipated; the plain chariot, with its neat postilions in their scarlet and white liveries was always welcomed with great joy by the army and brought a cheering influence, which relieved the general gloom in seasons of disaster and despair. Her example was followed by the wives of other general officers.

It happened at one time while the ladies remained later than usual in the camp on the Hudson, that an alarm was given of the approach of the enemy from New York. The aid-de-camp proposed that the ladies should be sent away under an escort, but to this Washington would not consent. "The presence of our wives," said he, "will the better encourage us to brave defense."

Lady Washington, as she was always called in the army, usually remained at headquarters till the opening of the succeeding campaign, when she returned to Mount Vernon. She was accustomed afterwards to say that it had been her fortune to hear the first cannon at the opening, and the last at the