ge, and forty-three years afterward took
command of the American forces assembled on the plains of old Cambridge.

But if their births were dissimilar, their rearing and education were
still more unlike. From his earliest recollection the Prince heard only
the language of flattery, moved about from palace to palace, just as
caprice dictated, slept upon the cygnet's down, and grew up in
indolence, self-will and vanity, a dictator from his cradle. The peasant
boy, on the other hand, was taught from his infancy that labor was
honorable, and hardships indispensable to vigorous health. He early
learned to sleep alone amid the dangers of a boundless wilderness, a
stone for his pillow, and the naked sod his bed; whilst the voices of
untamed nature around him sang his morning and his evening hymns. Truth,
courage and constancy were early implanted in his mind by a mother's
counsels, and the important lesson of life was taught by a father's
example, that when existence ceases to be useful it ceases to be happy.

Early manhood ushered them both into active life; the one as king over
extensive dominions, the other as a modest, careful, and honest district
surveyor.

Having traced the two Georges to the threshold of their career, let us
now proceed one step further, and take note of the first great public
event in the lives of either.

For a long time preceding the year 1753 the French had laid claim to all
the North American continent west of the Alleghany Mountains, stretching
in an unbroken line from Canada to Louisiana. The English strenuously
denied this right, and when the French commandant on the Ohio, in 1753,
commenced erecting a fort near where the present city of Pittsburg
stands, and proceeded to capture certain English traders, and expel them
from the country, Dinwiddie, Governor of Virginia, deemed it necessary
to dispatch an agent on a diplomatic visit to the French commandant, and
demand by what authority he acted, by what title he claimed the country,
and order him immediately to evacuate the territory.

George Washington, then only in his twenty-second year, was selected by
the Governor for this important mission.

It is unnecessary to follow him, in all his perils, during his wintery
march through the wilderness. The historian of his life has painted in
imperishable colors his courage, his sagacity, his wonderful coolness in
the midst of danger, and the success which crowned his undertaking. The
memory love