day that the weather will permit of my going out, and sometimes six pistoles. The coldness of the weather will not admit of making a long stay, as the lodging is rather too cold for the time of year. I have never had my clothes off, but have lain and slept in them, except the few nights I have been in Fredericktown."

Such was George Washington's education. He went to no college, he learnt no Latin or Greek; as far as books went, he had very little learning. He mentions at the age of nineteen reading a History of England, and the essays in the Spectator; but the lessons in the free forest life were those which he most needed for the work before him. Inured to hardship, possessing indomitable courage, untiring perseverance, and simple tastes; the "boy was father to the man" who knew in after life how to suffer cold, and hunger, and privation, for his country's sake, at the dreary encampment of Valley Forge, and on the banks of the frozen Delaware.

Lord Fairfax was so much pleased with the result of the survey that he determined to lay out a large manor, after English fashion, in his far domains, and to name it Greenway Court. For a reward to George Washington, he used his influence to have him made public surveyor. This office brought Washington some important work in a short time; but in order that we may understand what it was, it is necessary for us to consider something of the relation in which the American States stood to other countries.

The various tracts of land in North America now known as the United States had been colonised at different times by Englishmen. Cabot, the Bristol merchant, had obtained a commission from Henry VII. to navigate all parts of the ocean, with power to set up the royal standard, and take possession of any countries he might discover for the crown

THE FOUNDING OF THE STATES.

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of England. He discovered the main coast of North America; but it was not formally taken possession of by the English until 1583, when Sir Humphrey Gilbert sailed out with a patent from Queen Elizabeth, and claimed it in her name. In 1607, Jamestown was built in Virginia and named after James I. At first the British territory extended chiefly along the eastern coast. The English emigrants found it a most fertile and beautiful country, and only inhabited by Indians, who retreated step by step back into the mainland from the approach of the white man, making but feeble resistance to him. So by degrees there came to be thirteen States colonised by the English :—

Virginia, which was so named in compliment to Queen Elizabeth;

Delaware, founded by Lord Delaware, who came out as governor in the time of James I.;

New Jersey, colonised by the English in Charles II.'s reign;

Massachusetts, founded by those Puritans who were commonly known as the Pilgrim Fathers.

New Hampshire was founded about the same time; as also was

Connecticut, which took its name from the river that flowed through it.

Rhode Island was the smallest of the colonies. It took its name from a small island that lay near it, but it is really part of the mainland.

New York was first colonised by the Dutch, and called New Amsterdam, but came into possession of the English after the treaty signed at Breda, in 1667. It was named New York in honour of the Duke of York, afterwards James II.

Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn, an English Quaker, who came out with a number of Quakers in 1862. He named the colony which he founded after the home which he had left behind him in England. The Penn Woods were a dear memory to him, in spite of the many miles of sea and land which separated him from them.

Maryland, which lies south of Pennsylvania, was first colonised by Lord Baltimore, who named it after Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I.

North and South Carolina were first colonised by French Protestants, and named after Charles IX. of France; but when they were afterwards colonised by the English, in 1669, the name was re-conferred in honour of Charles II.

Georgia was first colonised by the English, under General Oglethorpe, in 1732, the year of Washington's birth. It was named after George II.

Canada, the large tract of country lying to the north of the United States, belonged at this time to the French, who had colonised it in 1541, and in 1608 founded Quebec. In 1629, England conquered Canada, but restored it to the French at the peace which was made in 1632; yet during the hundred years which had elapsed since then, the boundaries of French and English dominion had never been decided. The Indians, who owned the soil, retreated steadily before the two conquering nations, trying vainly to make favourable terms with either of them. Sometimes they allied themselves to the French, hoping that they would help them to keep their native soil; sometimes they felt alliance with the English would help them more effectually. In Washington's time they had retreated from all the seaboard, and had fallen back upon the country which now forms all the States of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, &c.

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On this territory both French and English cast a covetous eye. The French claimed it by right of discovery, the English by right of treaty with the Indians; but neither had as yet established any white settlement.

The Ohio country seemed most especially to be desirable as a colony. It had a good climate, fertile soil, excellent shooting and fishing; and its neighbourhood to the great lakes made commerce easy. No one but Pennsylvanian fur traders had proved the great advantages of the territory; but they had been in the habit for some time of exchanging blankets, gaudy stuffs, powder and shot, and spirits, with the Indian tribes, for rich furs.

; Some of the colonists of Virginia in 1749 formed a scheme for organising the trade with this country-colonising it properly, and taking possession of it. Lawrence and Augustine Washington both belonged to this "Ohio Company." But before the scheme could be carried out the French took fright. The Governor of Canada sent an officer with three hundred men to the banks of the Ohio, to claim the country for the French, and warn the Indians against the English.

It is said that the French officer even nailed plates to trees and buried some in the earth, with inscriptions which affirmed that all these lands in ancient days belonged to the Crown of France. He treated the Pennsylvanian traders whom he met with great scorn, and ordered them out of the country.

In the autumn of this year the Ohio Company commenced its work, sending a hardy pioneer, Christopher Gist, whose name has become well known, to explore for them. Truly, it was a country worth fighting for which he found. "It was rich and level; watered with streams and

rivulets; clad with noble forests of hickory, walnut, ash, poplar, sugar-maple, and wild cherry trees. Occasionally there were spacious plains, covered with wild rye, natural meadows, with blue grass and clover; and buffaloes, thirty and forty at a time, grazing on them as in a cultivated pasture. Deer, elk, and wild turkeys abounded."

The Indians received the Ohio pioneers with friendliness. They were beginning to feel the bonds of French protection rather galling; at the same time they were not willing to part with their land, even to the English.

An old Delaware sachem met Gist on his survey, and said to him, "The French claim all the land on one side of the Ohio, the English claim all the land on the other side; now, where does the Indians' land lie?"

The French prepared for war. They launched a manof-war on Lake Ontario; they strengthened their old forts, and built new ones. The British also began to look to their resources. In Virginia especially there was a martial spirit astir; and George Washington, though only nineteen, was made a district adjutant-general of Militia. He gave the same attention to this new work as he had done to landsurveying. His brother Lawrence found men to drill him, and give him what instruction was possible in military matters a Dutchman, named Jacob Van Braam, is specially named as having taught him sword exercise.

But just at this time Lawrence's health failed; he was ordered to the West Indies, and his favourite George went with him.

They landed at Barbadoes; and, before they had been there a fortnight, George took the small-pox. Lawrence nursed him through it, the last kindness he was able to do for the young brother to whom he had been such a good