Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. I.djvu/25

Rh in Company and Conversation," most of them translated from a French Book of "Maximes," discovered by Mr. Conway, of which the last and most noteworthy one, not in the French series, and which he may have added himself, must never be omitted from the story of Washington's boyhood: "Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, Conscience." All these schoolboy manuscripts bear witness alike to his extreme care in cultivating a neat, clear, and elegant handwriting, and his name is sometimes written almost as if in contemplation of the great instruments and state papers to which it was destined to be the attesting signature.

Meantime he was training himself for vigorous manhood by all sorts of robust exercise and athletic sports. He played soldier, sometimes, with his school-mates, always asserting the authority of captain, and subjecting the little company to a rigid discipline. Running, leaping, and wrestling were among his favorite pastimes. He became a fearless rider, too, and no horse is said to have been too fiery for him. "Above all," as Irving well says, "his inherent probity, and the principles of justice on which he regulated his conduct, even at this early period of his life, were soon appreciated by his school-mates; he was referred to as an umpire in their disputes, and his decisions were never reversed." A crisis in Washington's life occurred