George Washington's Rules of Civility - Softcover

Conway, Moncure D.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1589639286 ISBN 13: 9781589639287

Publisher: Fredonia Books (NL), 2002

Synopsis

Among the manuscript books of George Washington, preserved in the State Archives at Washington City, the earliest bears the date, written in it by himself, 1745. Washington was born February 11, 1731 O.S., so that while writing in this book he was either near the close of his fourteenth, or in his fifteenth year. It is entitled " Forms of Writing," has thirty folio pages, and the contents, all in his boyish handwriting, are sufficiently curious. Amidst copied forms of exchange, bonds, receipts, sales, and similar exercises, occasionally, in ornate penmanship, there are poetic selections, among them lines of a religious tone on " True Happiness." But the great interest of the book centers in the pages headed:" Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation." The book had been gnawed at the bottom by Mount Vernon mice, before it reached the State Archives, and nine of the 110 Rules have thus suffered; the sense of several being lost.

The Rules possess so much historic interest that it seems surprising that none of Washington's biographers or editors should have given them to the world. Washington Irving, in his Life of Washington, excites interest in them by a tribute, but does not quote even one.

About this title

About the Author:

George Washington was born in Virginia in 1732. As a young man, he learned the morals, manners, and knowledge necessary to become a Virginia gentleman. He was particularly interested in the military arts and western expansion. At the age of 16, he helped survey Shenandoah lands. At the age of 22, he was commissioned a lieutenant colonel and fought in the first battles of what became the French and Indian War. Unanimously elected as the first President of the United States, Washington served two terms before retiring to Mount Vernon. He passed away on December 14, 1799.

About this edition

• Publisher: Fredonia Books (NL)
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1589639286
• ISBN 13: 9781589639287
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 184