greatness, and trace the mental processes by which they reached their elevation. Our curiosity in this respect is rather excited than gratified by the meagre accounts that have come down to us of Washington's early days. There are many traditions, all in harmony with his general character, but not substantiated as matters of history. His manly refusal to tell a lie to escape punishment, his generosity in winning a prize, by his superior strength, for another, and his love of the right exhibited in more instances than one, are so many floating traditions, which may or may not be true. The retired place of his birth, and the stern character of the times and men that surrounded his earlier years, would naturally cause his boyish conduct to pass unnoticed, leaving to the mother alone the pleasing task of hoarding up all his noble traits and generous deeds.
The ancestor of George held the manor of Sulgrave, in Northamptonshire, England, which was granted to him ir 1538. His grandson Lawrence had several children, two of whom* (the second and fourth) emigrated to Virginia in 1657. They bought plantations in Westmoreland, on the Potomac, and became successful farmers. John Washington entered into active service against the Indians, and rose to the rank of colonel. He had two sons and a daughter The elder son, Lawrence, married Mildred Warner, by whom he had three children, John, Augustine, and Mildred. Augustine, the second son, married Jane Butler, by whom he had four children, two of whom dying in infancy, left only Lawrence and Augustine. His wife also dying, he married in 1730 Mary Ball, by whom he had six children; George, who was born in Westmoreland county, February 22d, 1732, and Betty, Samuel, John, Augustine, Charles, and Mildred. The latter, however, died in infancy. While George was yet very young, his father removed to an estate
* John and Lawrence-the eldest, William, married a half-sister of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham.