Some of the most interesting anecdotes of the early life of Washington
were derived from his mother, a dignified matron who, by the death of
her husband, while her children were young, became the sole conductress
of their education. To the inquiry, what course she had pursued in
rearing one so truly illustrious, she replied, "Only to require
obedience, diligence, and truth."
These simple rules, faithfully enforced, and incorporated with the
rudiments of character, had a powerful influence over his future
greatness.
He was early accustomed to accuracy in all his statements, and to speak
of his faults and omissions without prevarication or disguise. Hence
arose that noble openness of soul, and contempt of deceit in others,
which ever distinguished him. Once, by an inadvertence of his youth,
considerable loss had been incurred, and of such a nature as to
interfere with the plans of his mother. He came to her, frankly owning
his error, and she replied, while tears of affection moistened her eyes,
"I had rather it should be so, than that my son should have been guilty
of a falsehood."
She was careful not to enervate him by luxury or weak indulgence. He was
inured to early rising, and never permitted to be idle. Sometimes he
engaged in labors which the children of wealthy parents would now
account severe, and thus acquired firmness of frame and a disregard of
hardship.
The systematic employment of time, which from childhood he had been
taught, was of great service when the weight of a nation's concerns
devolved upon him. It was then observed by those who surrounded him,
that he was never known to be in a hurry, but found time for the
transaction of the smallest affairs in the midst of the greatest and
most conflicting duties.
Such benefit did he derive from attention to the counsels of his mother.
His obedience to her commands, when a child, was cheerful and strict;
and as he approached to maturer years, the expression of her slightest
wish was law.
At length, America having secured her independence, and the war being
ended, Washington, who for eight years had not tasted the repose of
home, hastened with filial reverence to ask his mother's blessing. The
hero, "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his
countrymen," came to lay his laurels at his mother's feet.
This venerable woman continued, till past her ninetieth year, to be
respected and beloved by all around. With pious grief, Washington closed
her eyes and laid her in the grave which she had selected for herself.
We have now seen the man who was the leader of victorious armies, the
conqueror of a mighty kingdom, and the admiration of the world, in the
delightful attitude of an obedient and affectionate son. She, whom he
honored with such filial reverence, said that "he had learned to command
others by first learning to obey."
Let those, then, who in the morning of life are ambitious of future
eminence, cultivate the virtue of filial obedience, and remember that
they cannot be either fortunate or happy while they neglect the
injunction, "My son, keep thy father's commandments, and forsake not the
law of thy mother."
[Illustration: _L.E. Fournier._]
* * * * *
CONDUCTRESS, a woman who leads or directs.
The suffix _-ess_ is used to form feminine name-words.
Tell what each of the following words means:
ab' bess
ac' tress
duch' ess
li' on ess
count' ess
po' et ess
song' stress
au' thor ess
di rect' ress
Use the following homonyms in sentences:
air, ere, e'er, heir; oar, ore, o'er; in, inn; four, fore; vain, vein;
vale, veil; core, corps; their, there; hear, here; fair, fare; sweet,
suite; strait, straight.
* * * * *
_76_
na' tal
a main'
toc' sin
re count' ed