THE BOYHOOD OF GEORGE WASHINGTON
Reading edition
(February 22nd)
In which we find out that truthfulness is a great virtue.
To-day we are going to talk about a little boy named George Washington. His mother and father lived on a large farm, and George’s life was just like that of other boys. He played games and learned to read just as boys do to-day. George was very fond of pretending to be an Indian warrior. One day while playing that he was a chief of the tribe he picked up his father’s hatchet to use as a tomahawk. After pretending that he had killed many wild animals, he walked through the orchard where the young fruit trees had been planted. He thought he would like to be a woodsman and cut down trees. So he began to use his little hatchet, and presently down fell a tree.
Shortly afterwards his father was walking in the orchard and found his favorite cherry tree cut down to the ground. He immediately asked George who had cut down his beautiful tree. George answered, “Father, I cannot tell a lie. I cut it down.” His father was so pleased that George had told him the truth that he said, “My boy, you should not have cut down this tree, but I would rather you had cut down every tree in the orchard than tell a lie,” and so his father did not punish him.
George was such a strong, sturdy boy that he nearly always won the games and races the boys would have. He liked to hear stories of soldiers and wars. He would play soldier, and have parades and make-believe battles. His playmates were fond of him because he was always fair in his play. At school his work was good and his copy book was so neat that it has been saved and can be seen to-day.
George’s father died when George was ten years old, but he had a wise mother whom he loved very dearly. There were many things that he could do on the farm to help his mother. He was very proud of his mother’s horses and one day was showing them to his friends. One horse—his mother’s favorite—was a splendid young animal that had never been trained. George’s friends asked if he could ride this horse. George answered that he could. He mounted the horse, but the animal kicked and reared and fell over backward breaking its neck. His friends were alarmed because they knew how much Mrs. Washington thought of this horse, and they begged him not to tell her. But George went straight to her and told her all about it, adding that he was sorry that the beautiful animal was dead. His mother forgave him, but warned him to be more careful in the future.
To-morrow we shall learn more about George Washington.