Robert Merry's Museum, Volumes I-II (1841)

by Various

George Washington was born in Virginia, on the 22d of February, 1732. His father was a wealthy planter; but he died in 1743, when George was eleven years old. He was, therefore, left to the care of his mother, who was a good and wise woman.

Now you must remember that when Washington was a boy, young people had not the advantages that they have now. In Virginia, there were no academies, high-schools, or colleges. He had, therefore, only the privileges of a common-school education, where writing, reading, arithmetic, and a little of geometry, were taught.

Now some boys with these simple helps had never been great; the reason why they were sufficient for Washington I will tell you. In the first place, he had a good mother, who, like almost all good mothers, frequently counselled and advised her son to make the best use of his time at school; to pay attention to his lessons; to learn them well; and thus, not only to store his mind with knowledge, but to get into the habit of studying thoroughly, and of improving his mind. In the second place, Washington had the good sense, the virtue, and the wisdom to mind his mother in these things. These are the two great reasons why a common-school education was sufficient for so great a man, and they are the two chief reasons why he became so great.

Now this shows that the advantages a boy possesses are of less consequence than the way in which he improves them. A boy may be sent to a high-school, and go through college, and have good natural capacity, and yet turn out to be a useless, weak, and ignorant man. Merely going through a high-school, or an academy, or a college, cannot make a good, useful, or great man. In order to be good, useful, great, or even happy, it is necessary in youth to do as Washington did.

Another thing to be noticed here is, that Washington had none of that folly which some boys think smartness, or a mark of genius, or manliness—a disposition to disobey a mother or a schoolmaster. Washington was obedient to both of them. If, therefore, a boy wishes to be successful in life, let him cultivate obedience to parents and teachers.

One of the great advantages that followed from Washington’s making the best of his school privileges was, his adopting good habits. He got into the habit of doing everything thoroughly. He was not willing to learn a lesson by halves, and when he came to recite, to guess and shuffle his way out. No, indeed! He did not leave a lesson till he had mastered it—till he knew all about it—till he had stamped it so firmly in his mind as to make the impression indelible.

The reason why habits are so important, is, that they hang about a person, and actually guide him through life. When a man has got the habit of doing a thing, it is easy to repeat it, and it is hard to act otherwise. Habits may be illustrated by a rail-road. The cars run easily upon the track, and it is difficult for them to get away from it. What work a car would make in attempting to run over the rough ground! Now, the mind is very like the car; it slides along glibly enough upon the rails of habit, but it works hard and makes little progress over a place where it has not been before. Thus, if a boy gets into the habit of lying, he lies, as a locomotive glides upon its track, with great rapidity, smoothness, and ease. And if he has once got into this habit of lying, and then attempts to tell the truth, he feels as if he had got off the track, and is like a car running over the common ground.

The importance of this matter of habit is seen upon a little reflection. We must remember what has been said before, that the things we do once or twice, we are likely to repeat. We are, therefore, always forming habits, good or bad; and children frequently get them settled as a rail-road track, before they are aware of it. Now, these habits may ruin those who adopt them, and turn into evil the best advantages that they can enjoy.

If a boy gets the habit of studying in a half-way, slovenly, slip-shod manner, he is almost certain to be greatly injured thereby. If he goes to college, he there continues the same habit; when he comes out, he still carries it with him; when he enters upon business, it still hangs about him. He does nothing well, or thoroughly; he is careless and slovenly in all he does; there is imperfection and weakness in his career, and finally he turns out an unsuccessful man. If he is a merchant, he usually fails in business; if a lawyer, a physician, or minister, he is generally at the tail-end of his profession, poor, useless, and despised. Such is the mighty influence of our habits; and remember that they are formed in early life. Remember that every day feeds and fosters our habits.

It is interesting to trace the way that Washington’s youthful habits operated upon him. Some of his early schoolbooks are extant, and these show that he was very thorough in writing. He even took the pains to write out, in a fine hand, the forms in which notes of hand, bills of exchange, receipts, bonds, deeds, wills, should be drawn. Thus he cultivated the habit of writing neatly, of being patient in copying papers, and of being accurate in making copies; and at the same time he made himself acquainted with the forms of drawing up business documents. In all this, we see the habit of doing things patiently, accurately, and thoroughly. We see that Washington had so trained himself, that he could sit down and do that which was mere toil, and which some boys would think stupid drudgery.