object of more assiduous attention to the other; who
continued to impress those principles of religion and virtue on his
tender mind, which constituted the solid basis of a character that was
maintained through all the trying vicissitudes of an eventful life.
But his education was limited to those subjects, in which alone the
sons of gentlemen, of moderate fortune, were, at that time, generally
instructed. It was confined to acquisitions strictly useful, not even
extending to foreign languages.

In 1743, his eldest brother intermarried with the daughter of the
Honourable George William Fairfax, then a member of the council; and
this connexion introduced Mr. Washington to Lord Fairfax, the
proprietor of the Northern Neck of Virginia, who offered him, when in
his eighteenth year, an appointment as surveyor, in the western part
of that territory. His patrimonial estate being inconsiderable, this
appointment was readily accepted; and in the performance of its
duties, he acquired that information respecting vacant lands, and
formed those opinions concerning their future value, which afterwards
contributed greatly to the increase of his private fortune.

{1750}

Those powerful attractions which the profession of arms presents to
young and ardent minds, possessed their full influence over Mr.
Washington. Stimulated by the enthusiasm of military genius, to take
part in the war in which Great Britain was then engaged, he had
pressed so earnestly to enter into the navy, that, at the age of
fifteen, a midshipman's warrant was obtained for him. The interference
of a timid and affectionate mother deferred the commencement, and
changed the direction of his military career. Four years afterwards,
at a time when the militia were to be trained for actual service, he
was appointed one of the Adjutants General of Virginia, with the rank
of Major. The duties annexed to this office soon yielded to others of
a more interesting character.

France was beginning to develop the vast plan of connecting her
extensive dominions in America, by uniting Canada with Louisiana. The
troops of that nation had taken possession of a tract of country
claimed by Virginia, and had commenced a line of posts, to be extended
from the Lakes to the Ohio. The attention of Mr. Dinwiddie, Lieutenant
Governor of that Province, was attracted to these supposed
encroachments; and he deemed it his duty to demand, in the name of the
King his master, that they should be