Illustrations
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George Washington
Chapter I
Boyhood
The contemplation of the wonders of the universe is always inspiring and uplifting—the crystalline purity of the sky, the splendor of the sunrise and sunset, the grandeur of the starry night, the fragrant forest, the smiling landscape, the tree, the flower, the boundless ocean, and all the countless manifestations of nature. But how much greater our admiration and inspiration when we reverently contemplate the progress of a noble human soul toward ever higher and higher planes of perfection! Some of the good seed which it scatters may take root in our minds to strengthen and develop the best that is in us. We perceive the possibilities of the race and what we may ourselves become if the will to strive keeps pace with a love for what is good.
In ancient times thoughtful people compared great and good souls to the stars. They rise in the spiritual firmament with a pure radiance and, ever anew breaking through the mists and clouds which obscure them, remain visible to later generations. Thus they become guiding stars for struggling human beings here below. The particular star which the reader who has the wisdom and the inclination to perfect himself is invited to study in these pages arose in the forests of Virginia on the twenty-second of February, 1732. It was there that little George first opened his eyes and looked out upon a world in which he was to play so great a part. There his negro mammy sat with him on the bench before the door, throwing crumbs to the turkeys and pigeons to amuse him, and there, under the rustling trees, he whittled his first horse out of hazelwood.
George’s father, Augustine Washington, was a planter of English extraction. His first ancestor had emigrated from England when North America was still the undisputed property of the Indians. The territory which later became the United States is almost as large as the continent of Europe. Two hundred years ago the whole country was a trackless forest, broken only by enormous morasses, cane-brakes, and savannas or grassy prairies. In the prosperous plantation house on the east bank of the Rappahannock in which George was born, piety, industry, and probity had made their habitation. That was the first blessing with which heaven dowered the boy. Of course, living in a pure and healthy moral atmosphere is not in itself all that is required to guide a youth into paths of rectitude; the will to do the right and the continual struggle to attain it can alone accomplish the greater part. Reprobates have sometimes come out of the best environments. The voice of conscience is awakened very early in the human breast and we soon know right from wrong. However, it is a great boon and a wonderful help to be surrounded by people who are examples of virtue in word and deed, and he who strays into the paths of sin in spite of such surroundings is doubly to be censured.
At that time the English immigrants lived scattered in the forest, but neighbors had already formed themselves into parishes and founded schools and churches. The schools were of course of a very simple type, nothing but reading, writing, and arithmetic being taught. Most of the settlers found this quite sufficient for their children and rich planters sent their sons to England to be educated. Lawrence Washington, George’s eldest step-brother, enjoyed these advantages. He was fourteen years older than George, who was a babe in arms when Lawrence set out on his first voyage to England, so that he could not remember his step-brother. When George was eight years old, Lawrence, now in his twenty-second year, returned. The arrival of the well-educated and well-bred young gentleman was a welcome event in the family circle, and George loved him from the first moment. Their affection was mutual, and indeed Lawrence showed a truly paternal interest in the bright, alert boy.
Their father had no intention of sending another son abroad. He looked upon Lawrence as the natural head of the family after his death and was satisfied that his probable successor had received a liberal education. Accordingly George was sent to the parish school. He applied himself eagerly to his tasks and thus laid a firm foundation, at least, for the studies which he afterward prosecuted by himself. One trait of his character showed itself very early—he did all his work with the greatest conscientiousness and neatness. Not a stroke of his pen betrayed carelessness. Some of his school books, which have been preserved, bear witness to this. He showed the same care when any work about the house was required of him. He endeavored to do whatever he had to do, however insignificant it was or might seem to be, as perfectly as possible. Of course he was not capable of appreciating at that time how important this was in the development of his character. It was simply his early awakened sense of duty, reinforced by his earnest efforts to practise what he knew to be right. It was not until later that he realized the deeper significance of work as a means of strengthening the powers of the soul. There is no kind of work which may not be either well or ill done. If you put all your capabilities into it, and the result is more or less satisfactory, you have accomplished even more than the success of the moment; you have been working for the growth of your inner self. For one who realizes this, the greatest drudgery has lost its sting. George was just as conscientious in everything which pertained to morals. He had a passionate disposition, but we learn that early in life he strove to curb his hasty temper by exercising deliberation and will power. It was therefore customary, among his school-fellows, when disagreements arose, to take them to him, and his verdict was generally accepted, for they knew that he was willing to acknowledge himself in the wrong when his fiery temper had carried him away. It was justice and not the person that had weight with him.
Another of his qualities, military talent, was early recognizable. It was an inheritance. There had been warriors among his ancestors, men of note, of whom English chronicles tell us. Several of these had so distinguished themselves as to have been knighted. George’s brother Lawrence was of a like temper, and it now happened that he had an opportunity of becoming a soldier. British commerce in the West Indies had suffered heavy losses through piratical attacks by Spain and the English government determined to avenge itself. A fleet was fitted out, and as England was the mother country of the Virginians, the recruiting drum was heard in the colony also. Lawrence volunteered and was given a captain’s commission. It was no wonder that there was considerable excitement over all this in the home of the Washingtons. George took the liveliest interest in his brother’s equipment. He thought it very proper that the robbers, of whom he had heard many dreadful stories, should be punished, and gazed at his brother’s bright sword with delight and respect. He vowed that he too would sometime help to right the wrongs of his injured countrymen in time of need. He was told many tales of his valiant ancestors. It is no wonder then that the picture of his brother as he had left home, in his war trappings, was constantly in his mind; nor that he begged for his letters, after his father had read them to the assembled family, to pore over them, especially when they had something to tell of the soldier’s adventures.