Westmoreland County, Virginia, and became
a surveyor, being employed in that capacity at the early age of
sixteen by Lord Fairfax, governor of Virginia. He joined the English
troops sent under General Braddock against the French in 1756, and his
bravery and good sense in this expedition gained him great renown. In
1775 he was made commander-in-chief of the American forces against
the English and he conducted the war of the Revolution to a successful
issue in 1783. He was the first president of the United States, being
elected in 1789, and again in 1793, declining a third term in 1797. He
retired to private life at Mt. Vernon, his home in Virginia. Here he
died, and here he lies buried, his tomb being a shrine of pilgrimage
for all his countrymen and admirers.

Innumerable monuments rise all over our land commemorating his virtues
and pointing him out as a model for the youth of America. One of the
finest is that at Richmond, designed by Crawford, an equestrian statue
in bronze, surrounded by colossal figures of Jefferson, Mason, Patrick
Henry, Lewis, Marshall, and Nelson. The marble statue by Houdon in the
Capitol at Richmond is considered the best figure of Washington; it
was done from life in 1788. Other noble memorials are the Column at
Baltimore, and the great obelisk at Washington City, called the
Washington Monument, the latter designed by Robert Mills, of South
Carolina, and intended originally to have a colonnade around the base
containing the statues of the illustrious men of our country.

WORKS.

State Papers, Addresses, Letters--12 volumes.

Washington's writings are like his character, simple, clear, sensible,
without any pretensions to special culture or literary grace. These
extracts show his modesty, his love of truth, and his general good
sense. See under _Madison_, _Weems_, and _Henry Lee_.

AN HONEST MAN.

I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain,
what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an
"honest man."--_Moral Maxims._

HOW TO ANSWER CALUMNY.

To persevere in one's duty and be silent is the best answer to
calumny.--_Moral Maxims._

CONSCIENCE.

Labour to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial
fire,--conscience.--_Rule from the Copy-book of Washington when a
school boy._

ON HIS APPOINTMENT AS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.

[_Delivered in Congress, 16 June, 1775._]

Mr. President: Though I am truly sensible of