Life of George Washington Volume 1 Paperback - 7201

From the publisher

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II. THE HOME OF WASHINGTON'S BOYHOOD?HI9 EARLY EDUCATION LAWRENOE WASHINGTON AND HIS CAMPAIGN IN THE WEST INDIES DEATH OP WASHINGTON'S FATHER THE WIDOWED MOTHER AND HER CHILDREN SCHOOL EXERCISES. Not long after the birth of George, his father removed to an estate iu Stafford County, opposite Fredericksburg. The house was similar in style to the one at Bridges Creek, and stood on a rising ground overlooking a meadow which bordered the Rappa- hatmock. This was the home of George's boyhood; the meadow was his play-ground, and the scene of his early athletic sports; but this home, like that in which he was born, has disappeared; the site is only to be traced by fragments of bricks, china, and earthenware. In those days the means of instruction in Virginia were limited, and it was the custom among the wealthy planters to send their sons to England to complete their education. This was done by Augustine Washington with his eldest son Lawrence, then about fifteen years of age, and whom he no doubt considered the future head of the family. George was yet in early childhood: as his intellect dawned he received the rudiments of edu1740.] EARLY EDUCATION. 19 cation in the best establishment for the purpose that the neighborhood afforded. It was what was called, in popular parlance, an old field school-house; humble enough in its pretensions, and kept by one of his father's tenants named Hobby, who moreover was sexton of the parish. The instruction doled out by him must have been of the simplest kind, reading, writing, and ciphering, perhaps; but George had the benefit of mental and moral culture at home, from an excellent father. Several traditional anecdotes have been given to the world, somewhat prolix and trite, but illustrative of the familiar and practica...