George Washington

"At length...I am become a private citizen on the banks of the Potomac, and under the shadow of my own Vine and my own Fig-tree, free from the bustle of a camp and the busy scenes of public life, I am solacing myself with those tranquil enjoyments, of which the Soldier who is ever in pursuit of fame, the Statesman whose watchful days and sleepless nights are spent in devising schemes to promote the welfare of his own, perhaps the ruin of other countries, as if this globe was insufficient for us all, and the Courtier who is always watching the countenance of his Prince, in hopes of catching a gracious smile, can have very little conception." George Washington, Letter to Marquis de Lafayette, Mount Vernon, February 1, 1784

Source: https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/04-01-02-0064

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"Persuaded of the rectitude of our cause, and relying on the divine aid for its success, I accepted an arduous employment, the event has justified my most enlarged expectation; and if to the consciousness of having attempted faithfully to discharge my duty, I may add the approbation of my fellow Citizens, my happiness will be compleat." George Washington, Letter to the Militia Officers of Bergen County, Hackensack, November 10, 1783

Source: https://archive.org/details/writingsofgeorge27wash/page/240/mode/2up/

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"Where is the Man to be found, who wishes to remain indebted, for the defence of his own person and property, to the exertions, the bravery, and the blood of others, without making one generous effort to repay the debt of honor and of gratitude? In what part of the Continent shall we find any Man, or body of Men, who would not blush to stand up and propose measures, purposely calculated to rob the Soldier of his Stipend, and the Public Creditor of his due? and were it possible that such a flagrant instance of Injustice could ever happen, would it not excite the general indignation, and tend to bring down, upon the Authors of such measures, the aggravated vengeance of Heaven?" George Washington, Circular Letter Addressed to the Governors of all the States on the Disbanding of the Army, Head Quarters, Newburgh, June 8, 1783

Source: https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/99-01-02-11404/

Compliments of George Washington Society, an educational 501(c)(3) non-profit. Your tax deductible contributions are appreciated: https://georgewashingtonsociety.org/

“To please every body is impossible; were I to undertake it I should probably please no body. If I know myself I have no partialities. I have from the beginning, and I will to the end pursue to the best of my judgment and abilities one steady line of conduct for the good of the great whole.” George Washington, Letter to John Armstrong, May 18, 1779

Source: https://www.loc.gov/resource/mgw4.058_0852_0854/

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A SUNDAY REVIEW — LESSONS FROM THIS PAST WEEK

As another Lord’s Day brings us to reflect upon the week just past, the words of George Washington again remind us that the founding and preservation of a nation involve far more than politics or military strength. They involve character, conscience, Providence, wisdom, unity, lawful order, and gratitude to God.

This week’s writings span the beginning of Washington’s Revolutionary command, the achievement of peace, the Constitutional Convention, the troubled years preceding it, and his journey to become the nation’s first President. Yet a remarkably consistent set of principles runs through them all.

1. INTEGRITY MATTERS MORE THAN SUCCESS

On June 19, 1775, as Washington prepared to assume command of the Continental Army, he wrote Burwell Bassett that he could answer for three things: a firm belief in the justice of the cause, close attention to its prosecution, and “the strictest Integrity.”

He could not guarantee victory. He could guarantee the manner in which he would discharge his duty.

Washington concluded that even in the worst outcome, he could retain the comfort of knowing that he had acted according to his best judgment.

There is a deeply biblical principle here. We are responsible first for faithfulness, not for controlling outcomes. Reputation may rise or fall with circumstances, but a clear conscience before God is something no outward failure can take away.

Proverbs 10:9; Acts 24:16; Colossians 3:23

2. NEVER CONFUSE GOD’S PROVIDENCE WITH HUMAN SELF-SUFFICIENCY

In his July 8, 1783 letter to William Gordon, Washington looked back upon the astonishing success of the American Revolution and warned against assuming that America could simply repeat the experience whenever it wished.

He referred to the “invisible workings of Providence” and to a remarkable “concatenation of causes” that had brought the nation through difficulties where human foresight could not have pointed the way.

That is an important warning for every generation.

Success can become dangerous when we begin believing that our own wisdom, power, institutions, or prosperity produced everything we enjoy. Blessings received from Providence should produce humility and stewardship, not presumption.

Deuteronomy 8:17–18; Psalm 127:1; James 1:17

3. HONOR SHOULD PRODUCE HUMILITY, NOT PRIDE

Washington’s journey to New York in April 1789 became virtually a triumphal procession. Artillery salutes sounded, citizens gathered along his route, and on April 23 a magnificent flotilla accompanied his specially prepared barge into New York Harbor.

Yet Washington did not view the acclaim merely as personal glory. He approached the presidency with considerable anxiety over whether he could fulfill the responsibilities being placed upon him.

What a contrast to the natural human desire for recognition.

The greater the honor, the greater the responsibility.

Washington’s example reminds us that public acclaim should never become an excuse for self-exaltation. Leadership is ultimately stewardship.

Micah 6:8; Proverbs 27:2; Luke 12:48

4. UNITY REQUIRES HUMILITY AND CONCESSION

On September 17, 1787, Washington transmitted the proposed Constitution to Congress.

He explained that the delegates had kept before them the great interest of “the consolidation of our Union” and that the Constitution was produced through a “spirit of amity” together with “mutual deference and concession.”

Those words deserve attention.

The delegates did not obtain everything each state wanted. Union required people to distinguish between matters of fundamental principle and matters upon which they could yield for the welfare of the whole.

Unity does not mean abandoning truth. But neither can unity survive where everyone demands his own way.

Scripture repeatedly associates wisdom with humility, peaceableness, and concern for others.

Philippians 2:3–4; James 3:17; Romans 12:18

5. LIBERTY CANNOT SURVIVE WITHOUT ORDER, WISDOM, AND RECTITUDE

Washington’s October 31, 1786 letter to Henry Lee came during the disorders surrounding Shays’ Rebellion. He was deeply disturbed by what he saw happening within the young republic.

His answer was not that government should never be corrected. Quite the opposite:

“If defective, let it be amended, but not suffered to be trampled upon whilst it has an existence.”

That distinction remains profound.

A free people must possess the means to correct injustice and reform defective institutions. But liberty itself becomes endangered when legitimate government is simply discarded whenever passions run high.

And that leads naturally to Washington’s beautiful words at Elizabeth Town on August 21, 1783.

Having emerged from years of war, he joined the citizens in “grateful adoration to that divine Providence” which had delivered the country and permitted them once again to enjoy peace and domestic happiness.

But Washington did not stop with gratitude.

His prayer was that a “spirit of Wisdom & Rectitude” would preside over the nation’s councils and actions so that Americans would properly use the blessings placed before them.

That may be the greatest lesson of the entire week.

THE LESSON OF THE WEEK

God-given blessings carry God-given responsibilities.

Liberty requires integrity.

Success requires humility.

Union requires self-restraint.

Government requires wisdom and lawful order.

Peace requires gratitude.

And national blessings must never cause a people to forget the Providence from whom those blessings ultimately come.

Washington understood that America’s future would depend upon something deeper than armies, constitutions, elections, or prosperity. It would depend upon the character of the people entrusted with those blessings.

May we therefore echo Washington’s own hope:

May a spirit of wisdom and rectitude preside over our councils and actions, and may we possess the humility to recognize the blessings placed before us—and the faithfulness to use them well.

"On this happy occasion, suffer me, Gentlemen, to join you in grateful adoration to that divine Providence, which hath rescued our Country from the brink of destruction, which hath crowned our exertions with the fairest fruits of success, and which now (instead of the anxiety and distress occasioned by perpetual Alarms) permits you to enjoy, without molestation, the sweets of Peace and domestic happiness. May a spirit of Wisdom and Rectitude preside over all our Councils and Actions, and dispose us as a Nation to avail ourselves of the blessings which are placed before us, then shall we be happy indeed, and as a just reward for your liberal and virtuous sentiments, may the felicity of the Magistracy and Inhabitants of this Corporation, be only limited by the duration of time, and exceded by the fruition of a glorious immortality." George Washington, Letter to the Magistrates and Inhabitants of the Borough of Elizabeth, Elizabeth Town, August 21, 1783

Source: https://archive.org/details/writingsofgeorge27wash/page/112/

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"I am mortified beyond expression when I view the clouds that have spread over the brightest morn that ever dawned upon any Country. In a word, I am lost in amazement when I behold what intrigue, the interested views of desperate characters, ignorance and jealousy of the minor part, are capable of effecting, as a scourge on the major part of our fellow Citizens of the Union; for it is hardly to be supposed that the great body of the people, tho’ they will not act, can be so shortsighted, or enveloped in darkness, as not to see rays of a distant sun thro’ all this mist of intoxication and folly." George Washington, Letter to Henry Lee, October 31, 1786

Source: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/letter-to-henry-lee-3/

Compliments of George Washington Society, an educational 501(c)(3) non-profit. Your tax-deductible contributions are appreciated: https://georgewashingtonsociety.org/

"In all our deliberations on this subject we kept steadily in our view, that which appears to us the greatest interest of every true American, the consolidation of our Union, in which is involved our prosperity, felicity, safety, perhaps our national existence. This important consideration, seriously and deeply impressed on our minds, led each State in the Convention to be less rigid on points of inferior magnitude, than might have been otherwise expected; and thus the Constitution, which we now present, is the result of a spirit of amity, and of that mutual deference and concession which the peculiarity of our political situation rendered indispensable." George Washington, Letter to Congress, September 17, 1787

Source: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/letter-to-congress-recommending-the-constitution/

Compliments of George Washington Society, an educational 501(c)(3) non-profit. Your tax deductible contributions are appreciated: https://georgewashingtonsociety.org/

"To say nothing of the invisible workings of Providence, which has conducted us through difficulties where no human foresight could point the way; it will appear evident to a close Examiner, that there has been a concatenation of causes to produce this Event; which in all probability at no time, or under any Circumstances, will combine again. We deceive ourselves therefore by this mode of reasoning, and what would be much worse, we may bring ruin upon ourselves by attempting to carry it into practice." George Washington, Letter to William Gordon, July 8, 1783

Source: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/letter-to-reverend-william-gordon/

Compliments of George Washington Society, an educational 501(c)(3) non-profit. Your tax deductible contributions are appreciated: https://georgewashingtonsociety.org/

"Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the public summons, repaired to the present station; it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official Act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the Universe, who presides in the Councils of Nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the People of the United States, a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes: and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success, the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own; nor those of my fellow-citizens at large, less than either." George Washington, First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789

Source: https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/president-george-washingtons-first-inaugural-speech

Compliments of George Washington Society, an educational 501(c)(3) non-profit. Your tax deductible contributions are appreciated: https://georgewashingtonsociety.org/