George Washington - The Journals of George Washington

George Washington

Journey Over the Mountains in the Northern Virginia While Surveying for Lord Thomas Fairfax & First Military Assignment Carrying a Letter From the Governor of Virginia to the French Commander

Madison & Adams Press, 2017.
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ISBN 978-80-268-5699-3

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Washington's Journal here given to the public, if we except his version of the "Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation," is the earliest literary effort of this, the most admirable character in all history. The editor has long been engaged in collecting accurate copies of all the obtainable writings of this great man. Wherever it has been found practicable to examine and critically compare even his generally accepted writings with the originals, it has been, or will be done to secure a copy of exact and verified conformity, in every particular, with the text as it left the hand of the writer.

It is a well-known fact that editors have taken great liberties with Washington's writings, not for the purpose of falsifying history, or aspersing his character, but from a variety of reasons, often to suppress caustic expressions, or to substitute a more euphonious word to give to his sentences a fine, rhetorical finish. Such editorial dressing, even where the motive is well intended, is vicious in principle and liable to abuse; and, in the case of Washington's writings, is neither justifiable nor desirable. The time has come when the people want to know intimately and without glamour or false coloring, the father of his country as he actually lived and labored, and to possess his writings, just as he left them, on every subject which engaged his attention. It is the purpose of the editor to prepare a complete collection of all the writings of George Washington, from his youth to the close of his eventful life, with that literal exactness as to text which can only be assured by the careful efforts of an experienced copyist and expert proof reader having access to and comparing in every possible case the copies with the originals. This initial Diary of Washington opens with his sixteenth year, and plainly shows the energy and the maturity of his judgment, and his capability to discharge even then important trusts with efficiency.

Forthcoming volumes will give, in chronological order, his co-operation in the march of events on this continent, and his life and opinions as seen through the writings he left. This volume must be viewed as the work of a youth, making a few, brief and hurried memoranda while in the depths of the forest and intended for no eye but his own. The time is not far distant when an edition of Washington's more important papers will be called for in facsimile by some one of the photogravure processes now available for such purposes, because of the unquestionable fidelity to the original it secures and which is approximately arrived at in this publication.

This is the first systematic attempt to produce the writings of Washington with literal exactness as to abbreviations, the use of capitals, punctuation, spelling, etc. It is possible that the plan pursued may not, at first, meet with an unqualified commendation from the public. But if the editor does not much mistake the desire of students, the admirers of Washington and the demand of historians, this method, if faithfully executed, must produce the preferred edition of his writings.

A few miscellaneous pieces in Washington's youthful handwriting are preserved in this Journal, and are here printed with the same effort for literal accuracy which has been bestowed upon the Journal itself, and upon his field notes of land surveys.

This journal of George Washington, now for the first time printed entire and with literal exactness, was begun, as shown by the date in the opening lines, when he was but one month over sixteen years of age. It is his own daily record of observations during his first remunerated employment. His proficiency as a surveyor, and his fortitude in encountering the hardships of the forest in this expedition were, considering his age, truly remarkable. With him the beginning determined the end. Biographers have made us acquainted with the character of his worthy parents, and with the sturdy stock from which they were descended. It does seem as though Providence called our Washington into being, and educated him in the western world just at the time when a great leader was wanted to direct a revolution, and to found on this continent a new and a free, English-speaking nation. Every factor, whether of lineage or culture, in the admirably balanced character of Washington, as well as every aspiration of his heart, from his cradle to his grave, is of high interest to the world. Although deprived of a father's care at the age of eleven years, he was, however, especially blessed in having such a mother as the noble Mary Washington, who conscientiously discharged her sacred duty as his guardian, counselor and friend. Hence filial reverence grew with his growth and strengthened with his maturing years into fixed principles, making him throughout all his eventful life loyal to every virtue and heroic in every trust.

When George Washington set out on the enterprise herein narrated, he was just out of school, where he had received the best education the neighborhood could supply, supplemented with good private instruction. We may well believe that his mother and his brothers then supposed that George had attained an age and proficiency when he should either go to college to acquire a higher education, or embark speedily in some respectable calling; and we may further conclude that this precocious youth was eager to take part in the affairs of life, and deferentially announced his preference for the latter course. Possibly he was influenced in this selection by his great admiration for his half-brother, Major Lawrence Washington, who was actively and prosperously engaged in various business enterprises, who made much of George, and had him visit Mount Vernon whenever it was practicable.

George Washington's aptitude for mathematics early attracted the attention of his teachers, and his beautifully kept copy-books, which are still preserved, attest his unusual ability in mathematical demonstration and diagrams. Mr. Williams, the principal of the Academy in Westmoreland county, Va., where young Washington was, to give a practical value to this mathematical talent, had added surveying and navigation to his other studies; and these were soon mastered by this bright pupil. Land surveying was then a profitable and genteel pursuit in the colonies, and it comported well with Washington's tastes and inclinations. While visiting his brother at Mount Vernon, he had repeatedly amused himself and entertained guests of the house by surveying, in their presence, the garden, or a field, and rapidly drawing plats of them as an exercise. A few maps of such early surveys have been preserved. One of them, of Lawrence Washington's turnip field, bearing date 27 Feb., 1747-8, is reproduced in fac-simile in this publication. The others are without date, but are of about the same period; although one, namely that of "Hell Hole," a part of the Mount Vernon estate, and frequently mentioned in Washington's later diaries, may have been an earlier production. A fac-simile of it may also be found in this work.