He therefore accepted at once, and threw himself into his new duties with hearty good-will.

Every step now was full of instruction.

At Annapolis he met the governors of the other colonies, and was interested and attracted by this association with distinguished public men.

In the army to which he was attached he studied with the deepest attention the best discipline of Europe, observing everything and forgetting nothing, thus preparing himself unconsciously to use against his teachers the knowledge he acquired.
He also made warm friends with the English officers, and was treated with consideration by his commander.

The universal practice of all Englishmen at that time was to behave contemptuously to the colonists, but there was something about Washington which made this impossible.
They all treated him with the utmost courtesy, vaguely conscious that beneath the pleasant, quiet manner there was a strength of character and ability such as is rarely found, and that this was a man whom it was unsafe to affront.