The name, which this truly great and good man rendered for ever illustrious and venerable, is of thoroughly English origin, and was assumed, from a manor in the county of Durham, by one of the proprietors, during the dynasty of the Plantagenets. The family continued, for successive centuries, to produce men distinguished in their day and generation as knights, divines, lawyers, and agriculturists; and during the Protectorate two of its cadets, more adventurous than their predecessors, fared forth from a hereditary grange in Northamptonshire, took shipping for Virginia, sailed into the bay of Chesapeake, and settled, in the midst of silk grass and wild fruit, under the shade of the tall, bulky trees on the banks of the Potomac. The grandson of one of these emigrants, a colonist of industry, enterprise, and repute, flourished in the earlier part of the eighteenth century. He seems to have been fully alive to the inconvenience, and steeled against the temptations of celibacy; for he was twice married, and blessed with several children, of whom George Washington――the eldest son by the second wife――was born on the 22d of February, 1732. Shortly after this joyous event, the worthy and prosperous planter removed to an estate he possessed in Stafford county; and there, on the east side of the Rappahannoc river, the childhood of the future general and statesman was passed. He soon gave indications of a natural disposition to lead and govern; and showed an innate inclination for military pursuits and athletic exercises. When at play, he took infinite delight in forming his youthful comrades into companies, which he drilled, marched, and paraded with due order and formality. Sometimes they were divided into two armies, and fought mimic battles――he acting as captain-general of one party. Then, as in maturer years, he was much given to such feats as running, leaping, wrestling, throwing bars, and others of a similar character. Moreover, he was held in great respect by his more volatile companions, who looked up to him as an extraordinary lad; and thus he was often privileged to arbitrate on and settle their casual disputes, always, it is stated, to the satisfaction of the parties concerned. [Illustration: YOUNG WASHINGTON’S MILITARY ASPIRATIONS.]