AM MCKINLEY. 86

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS.

[Illustration: GEORGE WASHINGTON.]

GEORGE WASH-ING-TON.

Way down in Vir-gin-i-a, near a small creek, called Bridg-es Creek,
there is a shaft of white stone;--on it is the name of George
Wash-ing-ton and the date of his birth: Feb-ru-ar-y 22d, 1732.

On this spot once stood the big brick house in which George Wash-ing-ton
was born; it was built in 1657 by John Wash-ing-ton; his grand-son,
Au-gus-tine, was the fa-ther of the lit-tle boy who be-came our first
pres-i-dent. The moth-er of George Wash-ing-ton was Ma-ry Ball; so sweet
and fair was she, when she was a young girl, that she was known as
"Sweet Mol-ly."

Now she was not the first wife of Au-gus-tine Wash-ing-ton; and he had
two boys, Law-rence and Au-gus-tine, when he made her his wife. These
boys were so kind to their small broth-er George, when he was young,
and gave him so much help, all through his life, that their names should
stay in your minds. When George was three years old his home was burned
to the ground, and his fa-ther built a fine new house, just o-ver the
riv-er from where the cit-y of Fred-er-icks-burg now stands. Here George
went to his first school, and the name of the man who taught him was so
queer, it will not go out of your mind;--it was "Hob-by." In those old
days, the boys wrote to their boy-friends, just as they do at this day.
See what George, when he was nine years old, wrote to his best friend,
Rich-ard Hen-ry Lee:--"Dear Dick-ey, I thank you ver-y much for the
pret-ty pic-ture book you gave me. Sam asked me to show him the
pic-tures and I showed him all the pic-tures in it; and I read to him
how the tame el-e-phant took care of his mas-ter's lit-tle boy, and put
him on his back and would not let an-y-bod-y touch his mas-ter's lit-tle
son. I can read three or four pages some-times with-out miss-ing a word.
Ma says I may go to see you and stay all day with you next week if it
be not rain-y. She says I may ride my po-ny. He-ro, if Uncle Ben will
go with me and lead He-ro. I have a lit-tle piece of po-et-ry a-bout
the book you gave me, but I mustn't tell you who wrote the po-et-ry.

"G. W.'s com-pli-ments to R. H. L.
And likes his book full well.
Hence-forth will count him as his friend,
And hopes ma-ny hap-py days he may spend.

"Your good friend,
"GEORGE WASH-ING-TON."

"I am go-ing to get a whip top