The writings of George Washington; being his correspondence, addresses, messages, and other papers, official and private, selected and published from the original manuscripts; with a life of the author, notes and illustrations. By Jared Sparks.

LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 7
then rather as an act of necessity than of pleasure.
But many pages of the manuscript in question are
taken up with copies of what he calls 1q'orims of WrzitinGg, such as notes of hand, bills of exchange, receipts,
bonds, indentures, bills of sale, land warrants, leases,
deeds, and wills, written out with care, the prominent
words in large and varied characters in imitation of a
clerk's hand. Then follow selections in rhyme, more
distinguished for the sentiments they contain, and the
religious tone that pervades them, than for their poetical beauties,
But the most remarkable part of the book is that,
in which is compiled a system of maxims, and regulations of conduct, drawn from miscellaneous sources,
and arranged under the head of Rules of Behaviour
in Conapcany and Conversation. Some of these are unimportant, and suited only to form the habits of a
child; others are of a higher import, fitted to soften
and polish the manners, to keep alive the best affections of the heart, to impress the obligation of the
n oral virtues, to teach what is due to others in the
social relations, and above all to inculcate the practice
of a perfect self-control.
In studying the character of Washington it is obvious, that this code of rules had an influence upon his
whole life. His temperament was ardent, his passions
strong, and, amidst the multiplied scenes of temptation
and excitement through which he passed, it was his
constant effort and ultimate triumph to check the one
and subdue the other. His intercourse with men, prib
vate and public, in every walk and station, was marked
with a consistency, a fitness to occasions, a dignity,
decorum, condescension, and mildness, a respect for
the claims of others, and a delicate perception of the
nicer shades of civility, which were not more the dice