no, my son, no! Why, you make me shrink into nothing, George, when
you talk of all these things belonging to _me_, who can't even make a
_grain of sand_! How could I give life to the oxen and horses, when I
can't give life even to a fly, my son?"

George was introduced into a new world by this lesson, as his father
intended that he should be. His precocious mind grasped, finally, the
great idea of his "_true_ Father," and the lesson never had to be
repeated.

We have rehearsed this incident somewhat in detail as given by Mr.
Weems, because its influence will be found interwoven with George's
future private and public life.

Another story told by Mr. Weems is the famous _hatchet_ story, which has
been rehearsed to so many children, since that day, to rebuke falsehood
and promote truth-telling.

His father made him a present of a hatchet with which George was
especially delighted. Of course he proceeded forthwith to try it, first
hacking his mother's pea-sticks, and, finally, trying its edge upon the
body of a beautiful "English cherry-tree." Without understanding that he
was destroying the tree, he chopped away upon it to his heart's content,
leaving the bark, if not the solid wood underneath, in a very
dilapidated condition. The next morning his father discovered the
trespass, and, rushing into the house, under much excitement, he
exclaimed:

"My beautiful cherry-tree is utterly ruined. Who could hack it in that
manner?"

Nobody knew.

"I would not have taken five guineas for it," he added, with a
long-drawn sigh. The words had scarcely escaped from his lips before
George appeared with his hatchet.

"George," said his father, "do you know who killed that cherry-tree in
the garden?"

George had not stopped to think, until that moment, that he had used his
hatchet improperly. His father's question was a revelation to him; and
he hung his head in a guilty manner for a moment.

"George, did you do it?" urged his father.

Raising his head, and looking his father fully in the face, he replied:

"I can't tell a lie, pa; you know I can't tell a lie, I did cut it with
my hatchet."

Mr. Washington was well-nigh overcome by this frank and honest reply.
For a moment he stood spell bound; then recovering himself, he
exclaimed:

"Come to my arms, my boy! You have paid for the cherry-tree a thousand
times over. Such an act of heroism is worth more to me than a thousand
trees!"

Mr. Weems regards this honest confe