George Washington was born in February, 1732, on the banks of the river
Potomac, in Virginia. His father dying when he was ten years old, he
received a plain but useful education at the hands of his mother. He
soon manifested a serious and contemplative disposition, and, in his
thirteenth year, drew up a code of regulations for his own guidance, in
which the germs are visible of those high principles which regulated his
conduct in mature life. As a boy, he conceived a liking for the naval
service, but, being dissuaded from this, he qualified himself for the
occupation of a land-surveyor; and, at the age of eighteen, obtained,
through his relation Lord Fairfax, the office of Surveyor of the Western
District of Virginia. This introduced him to the notice of Governor
Dinwiddie, and in the following year he was appointed one of the
Adjutant-Generals of Virginia, with the duty of training the militia.
[Illustration:
_Engraved by W. Humphreys._