MRS. WASHINGTON: Yes, George, we had consented to your going to sea but I would much rather have you go back to school and have a good education. According to these old Virginia days the oldest son in the family, when the father dies, receives a plantation and your brother, Laurence, has received a plantation on the Potomac. WASHINGTON: Well, mother, if I give up my plans of going to sea and go back to school, what shall I do? MRS. WASHINGTON: You will receive a plantation on the Rappahannock. WASHINGTON: Well, I shall give up all my plans and go back to school and I will try to excel in all my work. MRS. WASHINGTON: You must excel in both work and play and remember the Golden Rule--"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." (Several boys knock and enter--boys bow and speak to Mrs. Washington). BOYS: How do you do, Mrs. Washington. MRS. WASHINGTON: How do you do, boys. FIRST BOY: George, we want you to come out and play with us. SECOND BOY: Yes, we want you to be our captain. THIRD BOY: We will take a walk in the woods. FOURTH BOY: And maybe have a swim in the old swimming pool. WASHINGTON: May I go out with the boys, mother? MRS. WASHINGTON: Yes, George, but don't forget to come in before it gets too late. _End of Act I._ ACT II. INTRODUCTION: When George Washington was sixteen, he was made a surveyor for Lord Fairfax. At twenty he was put in Braddock's army and he saved the broken pieces. He was later elected to the house of Burgesses in Virginia. After Washington's brother, Laurence, died, Washington received the beautiful Mt. Vernon plantation on the Potomac. One day while Washington was on his way to Williamsburg, he met a beautiful woman named Mrs. Martha Custis, who later became his wife. The second act will be Washington, Patrick Henry and others in the house of Burgesses in Virginia. (House of Burgesses assembled. Class in House of Burgesses.) SPEAKER AT DESK: As you know the French and Indian war has left both England and her colonies in debt and King George, thinking only of England, put a tax on tea and a Stamp Act on the Thirteen Colonies. Through such great men as Samuel Adams and our own Patrick Henry, these Acts have been repealed. Now we are confronted with the trouble in Boston. Shall the people of Boston be slaves or shall the thirteen colonies fight to save that town? (Exclamations from House). Fight! Fight! No! No! Fight! SPEAKER: I think Patrick Henry has a resolution to offer. PATRICK HENRY: Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen: I offer resolutions declaring that Virginia arm herself for the coming war. MEN OF HOUSE: Why should we fight England? It is the greatest country in the world and it is our Mother Country. SECOND MAN OF HOUSE: Why not send petitions to the King asking him to send his two armies out of Boston?