He serves his country; recompenses well
The state beneath the shadow of whose vine
He sits secure, and in the scale of life
Holds no ignoble, though a slighted place.
The man whose virtues are more felt than seen,
Must drop indeed the hope of public praise ;
But he may boast what few that win it can,
That if his country stand not by his skill,
At least his follies have not wrought her fall.
Polite refinement offers him in vain

Her golden tube, through which a sensual world
Draws gross impurity, and likes it well,
The neat conveyance hiding all the offence.
Not that he peevishly rejects a mode
Because that world adopts it: if it bear
The stamp and clear impression of good sense,
And be not costly more than of true worth,
He puts it on, and for decorum sake
Can wear it even as gracefully as she.
She judges of refinement by the eye,
He by the test of conscience, and a heart
Not soon deceived; aware that what is base
No polish can make sterling, and that vice
Though well perfumed and elegantly dress'd,
Like an unburned carcase trick'd with flowers,
Is but a garnish'd nuisance, fitter far
For cleanly riddance than for fair attire.
So life glides smoothly and by stealth away,
More golden than that age of fabled gold
Renown'd in ancient song; not vex'd with care
Or stained with guilt, beneficent, approved
Of God and man, and peaceful in its end.

WASHINGTON

(A. D. 1732-1799.)

GEORGE WASHINGTON, the great leader of the American struggle for national independence, and first President of the republic of the United States, was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, on the 22d of February (N. S.), 1732, and died at Mount Vernon, Virginia, on the 14th of December, 1799. He won reputation as a soldier in the French and Indian War, 1754-58, and, on the outbreak of the War of Independence, was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental forces, June 15th, 1775. He resigned his commission at the close of the war, in 1783, and retired to his estate at Mount Vernon; but was called forth again in 1787, to serve his country in a civil capacity, first as the presiding officer of the convention which framed the constitution of the federal republic of the United States of America, and then to become the chief magistrate of the nation so constituted.

Of the two letters copied below, addressing advice to his nephews on the plan and conduct of their lives, the first was written a short time before his retirement from the army; the second just after his election to the presidency, and on the eve of his inauguration. It is characteristic of the nobility of his nature that he should have been thoughtful of his young kinsmen at such times.

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Appended to these excellent letters are some precepts selected from what are often spoken of as Washington's Rules of Civility." The rules in question are found in a manuscript book, now preserved in the State Archives at Washington, which Washington used as a boy, for various purposes. It was formerly supposed that the young Virginian had either composed these rules, or collected them from different sources; and that belief gave more importance to them than they possess in themselves. Mr. Moncure D. Conway has

discovered their source in an old French book on Behavior, originally prepared for the pupils of the College of La Fleche, as long ago as 1595, but which passed through many later editions and translations. Washington received them, without doubt, from the Rev. James Marye, a French gentleman, whose school he attended, at Fredericksburg, in 1745. He probably wrote them in his book from the teacher's dictation, making many boyish mistakes in spelling, punctuation, and otherwise, all of which are reproduced in the exact text published by Mr. Conway. The selection given here is from that text. It includes only a few of the more permanently valuable among the one hundred and ten rules in Washington's manuscript. There are not many of the remainder that have much significance at the present day. Generally their subject is Manners, not Morals.

GEORGE WASHINGTON TO HIS NEPHEW, BUSHROD WASHINGTON.

NEW BURG, 15 January, 1783.

Let the object, which carried you to Philadelphia, be always before your Eyes. Remember, that it is not the mere study of the Law, but to become eminent in the profession of it, which is to yield honor and profit. The first was your choice; let the second be your ambition, and that dissipation is incompatible with both; that the Company, in which you will improve most, will be least expensive to you; and yet I am not such a Stoic as to suppose that you will, or to think it right that you should, always be in Company with senators and philosophers; but of the young and juvenile kind let me advise you to be choice. It is easy to make acquaintances, but very difficult to shake them off, however irksome and unprofitable they are found, after we have once committed ourselves to them. The indiscretions and scrapes, which very often they involuntarily lead one into, prove equally distressing and disgraceful.

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few; and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.

Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distresses of every one, and let your hand give in proportion to your purse; remembering always the estimation of the widow's mite, but, that it is not every one who asketh that deserveth charity; all, however, are worthy of the inquiry, or the deserving may suffer.

Do not 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 and embroidery, in the Eyes of the judicious and sensible.

The last thing, which I shall mention, is first in importance; and that is, to avoid Gaming. This is a vice which is productive of every possible evil; equally injurious to the morals and health of its votaries. It is the child of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and father of mischief.

TO GEORGE STEPTOE WASHINGTON.

MOUNT VERNON, 23 March, 1789.

Dear George,

As it is probable I shall soon be under the necessity of quitting this place, and entering once more into the bustle of public life, in conformity to the voice of my Country and the earnest entreaties of my friends, however contrary it is to my own desires or inclinations; I think it incumbent on me as your Uncle and friend, to give you some advisory hints, which if properly attended to, will, I

conceive, be found very useful to you in regulating your conduct and giving you respectability not only at present but through every period of life. You have now arrived to that age when you must quit the trifling amusements of a boy, and assume the more dignified manners of a

man.

At this crisis your conduct will attract the notice of those who are about you; and as the first impressions are generally the most lasting; your doings now may mark the leading traits of your character through life. It is, therefore, absolutely necessary, if you mean to make any figure upon the stage, that you should take the first steps right. What these steps are and what general line is to be pursued to lay the foundation of an honorable and happy progress, is the part of age and experience to point out. This I shall do, as far as in my power with the utmost chearfulness; and, I trust, that your own good sense will shew you the necessity of following it. The first and great object with you at present is to acquire, by industry and application, such knowledge as your situation enables you to obtain, as will be useful to you in life. In doing this two other important objects will be gained besides the acquisition of knowledge — namely a habit of industry, and a disrelish of that profusion of money and dissipation of time which are ever attendant upon idleness. I do not mean by a close application to your studies that you should never enter into those amusements which are suited to your age and station. They may be made to go hand in hand with each other, and used in their proper seasons, will ever be found to be a mutual assistance to each other. But what amusements are to be taken, and when, is the great matter to be attended toyour own judgement, with the advice of your real friends who may have an opportunity of a personal intercourse