Washington's favorite quotation was Addison's "'Tis not in mortals to
command success," but he frequently quoted Shakespeare.

_Taste for Literature_

His taste for literature is indicated by the list of books which he
ordered for his library at the close of the war: "Life of Charles the
Twelfth," "Life of Louis the Fifteenth," "Life and Reign of Peter the
Great," Robertson's "History of America," "Voltaire's Letters," Vertol's
"Revolution of Rome," "Revolution of Portugal," Goldsmith's "Natural
History," "Campaigns of Marshal Turenne," Chambaud's "French and English
Dictionary," Locke "On the Human Understanding," and Robertson's
"Charles the Fifth." "Light reading," he wrote to his step-grandson,
"(by this I mean books of little importance) may amuse for the moment,
but leaves nothing behind."

_His Dress_

Although always very particular about his dress, Washington was no
dandy, as some have supposed. "Do not," he wrote to his nephew in 1783,
"conceive that fine clothes make fine men any more than fine feathers
make fine birds. A plain, genteel dress is more admired and obtains more
credit than lace or embroidery in the eyes of the judicious and
sensible."

Sullivan thus describes Washington at a levee: "He was dressed in black
velvet, his hair full dress, powdered, and gathered behind in a large
silk bag, yellow gloves on his hands; holding a cocked hat, with a
cockade in it, and the edges adorned with a black feather about an inch
deep. He wore knee and shoe buckles, and a long sword.... The scabbard
was of white polished leather."

After Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown, Washington said to his army:
"My brave fellows, let no sensation of satisfaction for the triumphs you
have gained induce you to insult your fallen enemy. Let no shouting, no
clamorous huzzaing increase their mortification. It is sufficient for us
that we witness their humiliation. Posterity will huzza for us."

While there are many stories which show Washington's
straightforwardness, here is one which shows much diplomacy. He was
asked by Volney, a Frenchman and a revolutionist, for a letter of
recommendation to the American people. This request put him in an
awkward position, for there were good reasons why he could not give it,
and other good reasons why he did not wish to refuse. Taking a sheet of
paper, he wrote:

C. Volney needs no recommendation from

Geo. Washington.

* * * * *

GREAT GEOR