dridge, of Williamsburg, and widow of Daniel Parke Custis, of Arlington. He had no children. Description: Argent, two bars gules in chief, three mullets of the second. Crest-Out of a ducal coronet or, a raven with wings disclosed proper. That is, a white shield crossed by two red bars and having in the upper portion three red spur-rowels or stars. The crest: A raven, natural color, with open wings rising from a golden ducal coronet. The ducal, as an ancient form of coronet, has no reference to rank, and is used simply as a convenient base. That there is probably no connection between this coat-of-arms and the American flag becomes obvious by considering the colors. The banner has white stars on a blue field, while the coat has red stars on a white field. The flag displayed by Washington at Cambridge was the regulation British ensign with cotton stripes sewed on the field, the union remaining intact. When first seen by the British they thought it indicated a surrender. 2. Lawrence Washington, brother of John, emigrated to Virginia about 1660. -GEORGE Martha Custis-GEORGE. Betty Fielding Lewis. Sam'l. John Aug. Chas. Mildred. J. P. Custis Nelly Calvert. Nelly Custis. Lawrence Lewis. Bushrod Washington. NOTE.-A numeral in front of a man's name indicates which son; in front of a woman's, which wife. D APPENDIX. FAMOUS STATE PAPERS, SPEECHES, ETC. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. LINCOLN'S SPEECH AT GETTYSBURG. LINCOLN'S SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS. LINCOLN'S FAVORITE POEMS. A SHORT HISTORY OF THE CITY OF WASHINGTON. LISTS OF THE PRESIDENTS, VICE-PRESIDENTS, JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT, AND DIRECTORY OF THE CITY, AND GENERAL INFORMATION FOR VISITORS. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. HE Declaration of Independence was adopted about midday, July 4, 1776, by a Congress of Representatives of the Thirteen Colonies, assembled in the State House, Philadelphia. It was sent forth with the signature of President John Hancock only, but was afterward written on parchment, and on August 2, 1776, the names of all but two of the Signers were affixed. These two were added afterward. Charles Carroll, the last survivor of the Signers, died in 1832. When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a |