Code of Conduct

Alex,

It was very popular and fashionable in early America to write out a Code of Conduct. All the greats--Franklin, Jefferson, Washington...you get the idea...they all copied the popular code first, and then they created their own rules to live by. When I taught American lit, my favorite assignment was having students write their own code of conduct. Today I am sending you what George wrote out. Eventually, he created his own shorter list, as did Jefferson and Franklin. You, too, should think about writing your own.

Love u mostest,
Mom

Washington's Rules of Conduct



The stories and pictures on this page
(and on the cover) are from Johnson's
Fourth Reader - by Miss Louis Manly.
Richmond VA, B.F. Publishing
Company, 1897, and The Beginners
American History by D.H. Montgomery.
Boston, MA., Ginn & Company, 1892.



George Washington's father died when George was only eleven years old, leaving him, with his brothers and sisters, to the care of a most excellent and sensible mother. It was that mother's influence, more than anything else, which made George the man he became.
George went to a little country school, where he learned to read, write, and cipher. By the time he was twelve, he could write a clear, bold hand. Here is Washington's signature at the age of twelve:

In one of his writing-books he copied many good rules and sayings. Here are some of these sayings:

Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.

Undertake not what you cannot perform, but be careful to keep your promise.

Be not forward, but friendly and courteous.

Be not curious to know the affairs of others, neither approach to those that speak in private.

Be not tedious in disclosure.

Speak not evil of the absent, for it is unjust.

Let your recreations be manful, not sinful.

When a man does all that he can, though it succeeds not well, blame him not.

Mock not, nor jest at anything of importance; break no jests that are sharp-biting, and, if you deliver anything witty and pleasant, abstain from laughing thereat yourself.

Use no reproachable language against any one, neither curse nor revile.

Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation.

Be not immodest in urging your friend to discover a secret.

Speak not of doleful things in time of mirth, nor at the table.

Break not a jest where none takes pleasure in mirth.

Laugh not aloud, nor at all without occasion.

When you speak of God or His attributes, let it be seriously, in reverence.