From Farm House to the White House Part 3

"Truth, George, is the loveliest quality of youth. I would ride fifty miles, my son, to see the little boy whose heart is so honest, and his lips so pure, that we may depend on every word he says."

"But, oh, how different, George, is the case with the boy who is so given to lying that n.o.body can believe a word he says. He is looked at with aversion wherever he goes, and parents dread to see him come among their children. O George, rather than see you come to this pa.s.s, dear as you are to me, I would follow you to your grave."

Here George protested against being charged with lying. "Do I ever tell lies?" he asked.

"No, George, I thank G.o.d you do not; and I rejoice in the hope that you never will. At least, you shall never, from me, have cause to be guilty of so shameful a thing. You know I have always told you, and now tell you again, that, whenever by accident you do anything wrong, which must often be the case, as you are but a little boy, without _experience_ or _knowledge_, never tell a falsehood to conceal it; but come bravely up, and tell me of it; and your confession will merit love instead of punishment."

As we proceed with this narrative, after having enjoyed this glimpse of George's earliest years, the charming lines of Burleigh will find a fitting application.

"By honest work and inward truth The victories of our life are won, And what is wisely done in youth For all the years is wisely done; The little deeds of every day Shape that within which lives for aye.

"No thought so buried in the dark It shall not bear its bloom in light; No act too small to leave its mark Upon the young hearts tablet white; Our grand achievements, secret springs, Are tempered among trivial things.

"No soul at last is truly great That was not greatly true at first; In childhood's play are seeds of fate Whose flower in manhood's work shall burst.

In the clinched fist of baby Thor Might seem his hammer clutched for war.

"The firmest tower to heaven up-piled Hides deepest its foundation-stone; Do well the duty of the child, And manhood's task is well begun; In thunders of the forum yet Resounds the mastered alphabet."

George was about eight years old when a great excitement arose among the colonists in Virginia, and the fife and drum were heard, to announce that England, the mother country, needed soldiers.

"A regiment of four battalions is called for, by the king, for a campaign in the West Indies," announced Mr. Was.h.i.+ngton to his son Lawrence, a young man twenty-two years of age.

"A good opportunity for me," answered Lawrence, who possessed much of the military spirit of his ancestors. "Perhaps I can get a commission."

"Perhaps so," responded his father; "your education ought to place you above the common soldier."

Lawrence had just returned from England, where he had spent seven years in study, enjoying the best literary advantages the country could afford.

"Well, I can enlist and then see what can be done," continued Lawrence.

"The regiment will be raised at once, and I can soon find out whether there is an appointment for me."

Soon recruiting parties were parading at the sound of fife and drum, and the military spirit was aroused in the hearts of both young and old. The enthusiasm spread and grew like a fire in the wilderness. The colonists were truly loyal to the king, and their patriotism led them, heartily and promptly, into the defence of the English cause in the West Indies against the Spaniards.

Recruiting advanced rapidly, and the regiment was soon raised. Lawrence obtained a captain's commission, and appeared wearing the insignia of his office. Music, drilling, parading, now became the order of the day, and it was a new and exciting scene to George. Soldiers in uniform, armed and equipped for war, marching at the sound of music, captivated his soul. It awakened all the ancestral spirit of chivalry that was in his heart. The sight of his big brother at the head of his company, drilling his men in military tactics, filled him with wonder. Gladly would he have donned a soldier's suit and sailed with the regiment to the West Indies, so wrought upon was his young heart.

In due time the regiment embarked for the West Indies, and George was obliged to part with his n.o.ble brother, to whom he had become strongly attached since his return from England. The departure of so many colonists, and the cessation of military display, left George in a serious frame of mind. For the first time in his life he experienced the sensation of loneliness.

However, he had caught the military spirit, and he found relief in playing soldier with his companions. There is no doubt that George inherited somewhat the love and tact for military life for which his English ancestors were renowned; and now that born element of his character was called into active exercise. The recruiting campaign converted him into an amateur soldier.

From that time George found more real pleasure in mimic parades and battles than he found in any other sport. A stick, corn-stalk or broom-handle, answered for gun or sword, and the meadow in front of his father's house became his muster-field. Here Lewis Willis, John Fitzhugh, William Bustle, Langhorn Dade, and other companions, marched and counter-marched, under the generals.h.i.+p of their young commander, George. Soldiering became the popular pastime of the region, in which the boys played the part of the Englishmen and Spaniards better than boys can do it now.

Lawrence served two years under Admiral Vernon in the West Indies campaign, and returned to Virginia in the autumn of 1742. He proved himself a hero in war. Irving says: "He was present at the siege of Carthagena, when it was bombarded by the fleet, and when the troops attempted to escalade the citadel. It was an ineffectual attack; the s.h.i.+ps could not get near enough to throw their sh.e.l.ls into the town, and the scaling ladders proved too short. That part of the attack, however, with which Lawrence was concerned, distinguished itself by its bravery.

The troops sustained, unflinching, a destructive fire for several hours, and at length retired with honor, their small force having sustained a loss of about six hundred in killed and wounded."

Lawrence intended to return to England after a brief stay at home.

"My record will insure me a promotion in the army," he said to his father, who was averse at first to his return.

"Very true; but army life is objectionable in many ways," his father replied. "The honors hardly pay."

"But my experience for two years has fitted me for that service more than for any other, and that is to be thought of," suggested Lawrence.

"Yes; but other avenues to business are always open to young men of spirit," remarked his father. "Nor is it necessary for them to leave the country in order to accomplish a n.o.ble purpose."

However, Mr. Was.h.i.+ngton withdrew his objections to his son's return to the army; though, subsequently, he was pleased that he abandoned the project under the following circ.u.mstances.

There lived an educated English gentleman in Fairfax County by the name of William Fairfax. He had charge of a very large estate belonging to his cousin, Lord Fairfax, of England. This William Fairfax had a daughter, Anne, as well educated and accomplished as Lawrence. Mutual respect between Lawrence and Anne ripened into mutual love, and they became engaged. This unexpected episode in the lives of the promising couple changed the plans of Lawrence; and he voluntarily abandoned the idea of returning to the army.

The martial spirit of George did not abate when Lawrence came home from the war; it rather increased than otherwise. For his ears were regaled with many stories of army life, in which bravery, peril, bloodshed, and hairbreadth escapes were strangely mixed. There was a singular fascination in these tales of war to George; and he never tired of listening to them. The more he heard, the more he enjoyed playing soldier. He was constantly learning military tactics, too, from the lips of his brother. Being a bright, intelligent boy, he readily comprehended and appropriated information upon a subject that was so congenial to his heart. Lawrence was impressed by the precocity of his little brother, as well as his tact at soldiering, so that he was all the more gratified to nurture his martial spirit by rehearsing his experience in war. Lawrence was twenty-four years of age, and George but ten, so that the latter looked up to the former somewhat as a son looks up to a father, drinking in his words as words of wisdom, and accepting his experience as that of an officer of rank. Lawrence became his military teacher, really; and the opportunity to George proved a sort of West Point.

Lawrence, and others, too, were very much charmed by George's manly bearing, even before he was ten years old. John Fitzhugh said of him, "He was born a man."

He was very handsome, large of his age, tall and straight, graceful and dignified in his movements. These qualities were so conspicuous as to attract the attention of strangers.

He was very athletic, too, and loved more active sports than playing marbles. He excelled in running, wrestling, leaping, and throwing the bar, sports that were popular at that time. In these things he took the lead.

John Fitzhugh said of him, as a runner: "He ran wonderfully. We had n.o.body hereabouts that could come near him. There was a young Langhorn Dade, of Westmoreland, a clean-made, light young fellow, a mighty swift runner, too--but then he was no match for George: Langy, indeed, did not like to give it up, and would brag that he had sometimes brought George to a tie. But I believe he was mistaken; for I have seen them run together many a time, and George always beat him easy enough."

He would throw a stone further then any other boy. Col. Lewis Willis, who was one of his boon companions, said that he "had often seen George throw a stone across the Rappahannock, at the lower ferry of Fredericksburg." No other boy could do it.

His great physical strength was early displayed in lifting and carrying burdens.

The sequel will show how well his marked physical development served him in public life. A boy of less muscular power could not have made a general of such endurance under privations and hards.h.i.+ps.

Much more relating to the boyhood of George Was.h.i.+ngton will appear in subsequent chapters. Enough has been said in this chapter to accomplish our purpose.

III.

SCHOOL-DAYS.

"We must come to some conclusion before long about Lawrence's education," remarked Mr. Was.h.i.+ngton to his wife. "It is certain that not much more can be done for him here."

"He deserves and must have something better than the schools of this colony can give him," answered Mrs. Was.h.i.+ngton. "Besides, it will do the boy good to go from home, and mix in such cultivated society as he will have in England."

They had often discussed the matter of sending Lawrence to England to be educated. The wealthier cla.s.ses of Virginia were accustomed to send their sons to the mother country for a higher education than was possible at home. Indeed, it was sending them "home" in one sense, for England was their "home." They were only colonists here, where the schools were poor indeed. Neither their good-will nor their money alone could make good schools. They lacked suitable teachers and other facilities, which neither money nor good intentions could furnish.

"He should go, if he goes at all, as soon as possible," continued Mr.

Was.h.i.+ngton. "There is no time to lose when a boy gets to be fifteen years old. Eight years at school there will make him twenty-three when he gets through; and by that time he should be prepared to enter upon some pursuit for life."

"Eight years is a longer time than it is absolutely necessary for him to spend," suggested Mrs. Was.h.i.+ngton. "Five or six years may be sufficient unless he decides to enter one of the learned professions."

"He can't be too well educated, whether he enters a learned profession or not," responded Mr. Was.h.i.+ngton. "Too much education is quite as impossible as too much honesty; and I do not expect he will ever have too much of the latter."