“I Taught Him to Obey”

From his earliest years, George Washington was taught to:

1) Obey the Ten Commandments, which, his dad told the children, “cover the major moral issues of life.”

2) Obey Appleby (an English school) rules of conduct—a lengthy list of virtues which got more specific than the Ten Commandments. Rules like:

• Associate yourselves with persons of good character.

• Speak not evil of the absent.

• When you speak of God, let it be seriously and with reverence.

• Let your recreations be manful, not sinful.

• Do not correct another in anger.

• Let your conversation be without malice or envy.

• Be attentive when others speak.

• Stand up when others come to speak to you, even if you consider him to be your inferior.

• When your elders are talking, speak not until you are asked a question. Then stand up and answer in a few words.