And what is the character of Washington the man? Let the patriotism
of his professional life speak for him. Where is he in the hour of
peace, when the trump of war is hushed, and the stillness of the
Sabbath rests upon the woods and wilds of his native state. In the
time of peace he is a man of peace. He is just the man that you might
expect the boy Washington to make. A talented, active, industrious
citizen. His occupation is that of a surveyor, and so eminent is he in
his profession, rendered so by study and industrious application――so
eminent is he, that he attracts public attention and receives the
appointment of public surveyor at the age of but little more than
seventeen years. And so manly is his character, and so decided his
attainments, that when he is but nineteen years of age, in addition
to his office of public surveyor, he is made the commissioned head of
the militia of his district to guard it against the depredations of the
Indians. And he is yet devoted to his mother, and ready to obey her
in all that she commands. Washington the man is like Washington the
boy, the _dutiful and obedient son_. He loves his mother tenderly and
devotedly, and his mother, in return, loves him with all the ardor of a
mother’s deep and abiding affection. And he is loved and respected by
all who know him and have the opportunities of appreciating his worth.