Like Lincoln, Washington was very athletic. Both of our two great presidents were tall men: Washington was six feet two inches; Lincoln was six feet four. When he first visited the Natural Bridge, in Virginia, Washington threw a stone to the top, a distance of about two hundred feet, and, climbing the rocks, carved his name far above all others.... In all the positions which he was called upon to fill, in his remarkable life, whether as host at his home, as surveyor, as general, or as president, Washington showed the same desire to give the best that was in him for his people, his country, and for humanity at large. He endeared himself to the lowly and he gained the admiration of the great. He was never influenced by mean motives, and those who were under him loved him. Thus it was that among Americans he came to be regarded as "First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen;" and when his death became known on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the armies of Napoleon in France, and the fleet of Great Britain, his former enemy, did homage to his memory. Washington's birthday was celebrated even during his lifetime, and he had the satisfaction of receiving the congratulations of his fellow-citizens many times upon the return of this day, frequently being a guest at banquets given in honor of the occasion. In fact, after the Revolution, Washington's birthday practically took the place of the birthday of the various crowned heads of Great Britain, which had always been celebrated with enthusiasm during colonial times. When independence was established, all these royal birthdays were cast aside, and the birthday of Washington naturally became one of the most widely celebrated of American holidays.... Let us not forget what we owe to Washington, or make him merely a name--an excuse for a holiday. Let us remember him as a real, flesh and blood man--one of the greatest known to history. He gave us a nation to make it immortal; He laid down for Freedom the sword that he drew; And his faith leads us on through the uplifting portal Of the glories of peace and our destinies new. _J. Walker McSpadden_ SELECTIONS FROM THE RULES OF CIVILITY (_Copied by Washington at the age of fourteen from an old translation of a French book of 1595._) Show not yourself glad at the misfortune of another, though he were your enemy. When you see a crime punished you may be inwardly pleased; but always show pity to the suffering offender. Superfluous compliments and all affectation of ceremony are to be avoided; yet, where due, they are not to be neglected. When a man does all he can, though it succeed not well, blame not him that did it. Be not hasty to believe flying reports to the disparagement of any.