'The Rules of Civility' were copied by George Washington, partly to compensate for his lack of a formal education. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Visit the Photo Place

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'RULES' TO LIVE BY: ETIQUETTE BOOK SHAPED THE FATHER OF OUR COUNTRY

George Washington and the rules of civility

Date published: 7/20/2008

HOW DID A farmer's son, raised on the edge of the American frontier, become a respectable gentleman and the first president of the United States? Like generations of teenage boys before him, he learned manners by copying rules from a book of etiquette.

Known as "The Rules of Civility" in Washington's time, this collection of maxims on how to behave in society was based on a 1595 French manuscript titled "Bien-seance de la Conversation Entre les Hommes" ("Good Manners in Conversation Among Men"). Many versions of this list of rules were written in Italian, Latin, French, and English, and some even contained rules for women. The one George Washington studied contained 110 ways for a proper gentleman to conduct himself.

Washington was a man of high ambitions. A strong, athletic young man, he always strove to be the fastest (running and riding horses), the strongest (throwing stones across the river), and the first (as in, "the hearts of his countrymen"), but his ambition was tempered by a decorum that made him a favorite with men and women.

Washington's stature gave him an advantage in physical endeavors, but throughout his life he lamented his lack of a formal education. Prior to the death of his father, Augustine, the Washingtons were relatively prosperous and young George attended school taught by "Hobby" Grove, the sexton of Falmouth Church. Here he learned basic reading, writing, and business law--all necessary for a Virginia farmer. George was just 11 and his siblings even younger when their father died and left the property where they lived (now known as Ferry Farm) to George. This being an age when only sons could inherit property, George's older half-brothers from his father's first marriage were left holdings in Westmoreland County and Little Hunting Creek (later known as Mount Vernon).

NO SCHOOL IN ENGLAND

Paula Raudenbush is director of marketing for The George Washington Foundation.

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Date published: 7/20/2008