On the 22d of February, 1732, or, as it was then des ignated, the 11th of February, in a small,
Birth of Wash- but comfortable farm-house on the shore ington.
of the Potomac, in the county of Westmoreland, Virginia, was born the oldest child of Mary and Augustine Washington.
Little did the parents imagine that the name which they should select for this boy would become celebrated in history, oratory, and poetry, and be a household word in many lands and in many languages. There was nothing in the outward appearance to indicate such a glory. The Washingtons were, indeed, a respectable family of the English aristocracy. The great-grandfather of the little boy was an English knight, who, however, made no use of his title after coming to the wilds of Virginia. They possessed large estates and a plenty of servants, and commanded all the comforts that could well be secured in the new province so far away from the