‘Play not the peacock’ — Washington’s Rules of Civility
Written when he was just a teenager, George Washington's Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation contains 110 precepts that emphasize self-control and respect for others. It is a useful guide for young people, if only to show that basic rules of courtesy are as relevant today as they were centuries ago. While some of the quaint admonitions may cause a smirk, most of them produce a knowing nod. After all, who would dispute: "think before you speak"?
Washington wrote the instructions in a notebook sometime between the ages of 14 and 16. The original manuscript is owned by the Library of Congress. The source text was a 16th-century French Jesuit book of maxims. A tutor likely gave Washington an English translation by Francis Hawkins, which was first published in London around 1640. Historians such as Charles Moore and Richard Brookhiser believe the rules had a profound influence on the future leader, and guided his comportment throughout his life. Brookhiser also suggests that, "the rules address moral issues, but they address them indirectly. They seek to form the inner man (or boy) by shaping the outer."
