George Washington was only sixteen years of age when he started out on this errand into what was then the wilderness.  It was a tremendous task which he had undertaken, for the estate comprised nearly a fifth of the present state, but he did it so well that, on Lord Fairfax’s recommendation, he was at once appointed a public surveyor, and may fairly be said to have commenced his public career.  His brother soon afterwards secured for him the appointment as adjutant-general for the district in which he lived, so that it became his duty to attend to the organization and equipment of the district militia.  This was the beginning of his military service and of his study of military science.  He was at that time eighteen years of age.

That was the end of his boyhood.  You will notice that I have said nothing about his being a marvel of goodness or of wisdom—­nothing, for instance, about a cherry tree.  That fable, and a hundred others like it, were the invention of a man who wrote a life of Washington half a century after his death, and who managed so to enwrap him with disguises, that it is only recently we have been able to strip them all away and see the man as he really was.  Washington’s boyhood was much like any other.  He was a strong, vigorous, manly fellow; he got into scrapes, just as any healthy boy does; he grew up straight and handsome, ready to play his part in the world, and he was called upon to play it much earlier than most boys are.  We shall see what account he gave of himself.

When George was twenty years old, his brother Lawrence died and made him his executor.  From that time forward, Mount Vernon was his home, and in the end passed into his possession.  But he was not long to enjoy the pleasant life there, for a year later, he was called upon to perform an important and hazardous mission.

We have seen how La Salle dreamed of a great French empire, stretching from the Great Lakes to the mouth of the Mississippi.  This was already becoming a reality, for the governor of Canada had sent troops to occupy the Ohio valley, and to build such forts as might be needed to hold it.  This was bringing the French altogether too close for comfort.  As long as they were content to remain in the Illinois country, nothing much was thought of it, for that was far away; but here they were now right at Virginia’s back door, and there was no telling when they would try to force it open and enter.  So Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, determined to dispatch a commissioner to the officer-in-command of the French, to summon him to leave English territory.  The commissioner was also to try to kill two birds with one stone and form an alliance with the Indians, so that, if it came to fighting, the Indians would be with the English.  No more delicate and dangerous mission could well be conceived, and after careful consideration, the governor selected George Washington to undertake it.