Quote Archive | The Wisdom and Folly of George Washington, American Founder

(May 28, 2025)

George Washington (1732-1799) was an American Founder who is considered the “Father of His Country.” He served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and as the United States’ first President.

General and Other Military Orders

George Washington, General Orders (July 4, 1775)

The Continental Congress having now taken all the troops of the several Colonies which have been raised, or which may be hereafter raised for the support and defense of the liberties of America into their pay and service. They are now the troops of the United Provinces of North America, and it is hoped that all distinctions of colonies will be laid aside so that one and the same spirit may animate the whole, and the only contest be who shall render on this great and trying occasion the most essential service to the great and common cause in which we are all engaged.

The General most earnestly requires, and expects, a due observance of those articles of war, established for the Government of the army, which forbid profane cursing, swearing and drunkenness; And in like manner requires and expects, of all Officers, and Soldiers, not engaged on actual duty, a punctual attendance on divine service, to implore the blessings of heaven upon the means used for our safety and defense.

All officers are required and expected to pay diligent attention to keep their men neat and clean—to visit them often at their quarters, and inculcate upon them the necessity of cleanliness as essential to their health and service.

Colonel Gardner is to be buried tomorrow at 3 o’clock PM with the military honors due to so brave and gallant an officer, who fought, bled, and died in the Cause of his country and mankind.

George Washington, General Orders (July 16, 1775) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

The Continental Congress having earnestly recommended, that “Thursday next the 20^th Instant, be observed by the Inhabitants of all the English Colonies upon this Continent; as a Day of public Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer; that they may with united Hearts and Voice, unfeignedly confess their Sins before God, and supplicate the all wise and merciful disposer of events, to avert the Desolation and Calamities of an unnatural war”: The General orders, that Day to be religiously observed by the Forces under his Command, exactly in manner directed by the proclamation of the Continental Congress: It is therefore strictly enjoined on all Officers and Soldiers (not upon duty), to attend Divine Service, at the accustomed places of worship, as well in the Lines, as the Encampments and Quarters; and it is expected, that all those who go to worship, do take their Arms, Ammunition and Accoutrements, and are prepared for immediate Action if called upon. If in the Judgment of the Officers, the Works should appear to be in such forwardness as the utmost security of the Camp requires, they will command their men to abstain from all Labor upon that solemn day.

George Washington, General Orders (November 5, 1775) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

As the Commander in Chief has been apprised of a design formed, for the observance of that ridiculous and childish Custom of burning the Effigy of the pope—He cannot help expressing his surprise that there should be Officers and Soldiers, in this army so void of common sense, as not to see the impropriety of such a step at this Juncture; at a Time when we are soliciting, and have really obtain’d, the friendship & alliance of the people of Canada, whom we ought to consider as Brethren embarked in the same Cause. The defense of the general Liberty of America: At such a juncture, and in such Circumstances, to be insulting their Religion, is so monstrous, as not to be suffered, or excused; indeed instead of offering the most remote insult, it is our duty to address public thanks to these our Brethren, as to them we are so much indebted for every late happy Success over the common Enemy in Canada.

George Washington, General Orders (November 14, 1775) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

The Commander in Chief is confident, the Army under his immediate direction, will shew their Gratitude to providence, for thus favoring the Cause of Freedom and America; and by their thankfulness to God, their zeal and perseverance in this righteous Cause, continue to deserve his future blessings.

George Washington, General Orders (November 18, 1775) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

The Honorable the Legislature of this Colony having thought fit to set apart Thursday the 23^rd of November Instant, as a day of public thanksgiving “to offer up our praises, and prayers, to Almighty God, the Source and Benevolent Bestower of all good; That he would be pleased graciously to continue, to smile upon our Endeavors, to restore peace, preserve our Rights, and Privileges, to the latest posterity; prosper the American Arms, preserve and strengthen the Harmony of the United Colonies, and avert the Calamities of a civil war.” The General therefore commands, that day to be observed with all the Solemnity directed by the Legislative Proclamation, and all Officers, Soldiers and others, are hereby directed, with the most unfeigned Devotion, to obey the same.

George Washington, General Orders (November 28, 1775) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

An Express last Night from General Montgomery, brings the joyful tidings of the Surrender of the City of Montreal, to the Continental Arms—The General hopes such frequent Favors from divine providence will animate every American to continue, to exert his utmost, in the defense of the Liberties of his Country, as it would now be the basest ingratitude to the Almighty, and to their Country, to shew any the least backwardness in the public cause.

George Washington, General Orders (January 4, 1776) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

[T]hus it is that for more than two Months past I have scarcely emerged from one difficulty before I have plunged into another—how it will end God in his great goodness will direct, I am thankful for his protection to this time.

George Washington, General Orders (February 26, 1776) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

All Officers, non-commissioned Officers and Soldiers are positively forbid playing at Cards, and other Games of Chance; At this time of public distress, men may find enough to do in the service of their God, and their Country, without abandoning themselves to vice and immorality.

George Washington, General Orders (February 27, 1776) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

As the Season is now fast approaching, when every man must expect to be drawn into the Field of action, it is highly necessary that he should prepare his mind, as well as everything necessary for it. It is a noble Cause we are engaged in, it is the Cause of virtue and mankind, every temporal advantage and comfort to us, and our posterity, depends upon the Vigor of our exertions; in short, Freedom, or Slavery must be the result of our conduct, there can therefore be no greater Inducement to men to behave well: But it may not be amiss for the Troops to know, that if any Man in action shall presume to skulk, hide himself, or retreat from the enemy, without the orders of his commanding Officer; he will be instantly shot down, as an example of cowardice; Cowards having too frequently disconcerted the best formed Troops, by their dastardly behavior.

Next to the favor of divine providence, nothing is more essentially necessary to give this Army the victory of all its enemies, than Exactness of discipline, Alertness when on duty, and Cleanliness in their arms and persons; unless the Arms are kept clean, and in good firing Order, it is impossible to vanquish the enemy; and Cleanliness of the person gives health, and soldier-like appearance.

George Washington, General Orders (March 6, 1776) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

Thursday the seventh Instant, being set apart by the Honorable the Legislature of this province, as a day of fasting, prayer, and humiliation, “to implore the Lord, and Giver of all victory, to pardon our manifold sins and wickedness’s, and that it would please him to bless the Continental Arms, with his divine favor and protection”—All Officers, and Soldiers, are strictly enjoined to pay all due reverence, and attention on that day, to the sacred duties due to the Lord of hosts, for his mercies already received, and for those blessings, which our Holiness and Uprightness of life can alone encourage us to hope through his mercy to obtain.

George Washington, General Orders (May 15, 1776) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

The Continental Congress having ordered, Friday the 17th Instant to be observed as a day of “fasting, humiliation and prayer, humbly to supplicate the mercy of Almighty God, that it would please him to pardon all our manifold sins and transgressions, and to prosper the Arms of the United Colonies, and finally, establish the peace and freedom of America, upon a solid and lasting foundation”—The General commands all officers, and soldiers, to pay strict obedience to the Orders of the Continental Congress, and by their unfeigned, and pious observance of their religious duties, incline the Lord, and Giver of Victory, to prosper our arms.

George Washington, General Orders (June 30, 1776) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

[T]he General is persuaded from the known Zeal of the troops, that officers and men will stand in no need of arguments, to stimulate them upon common exertion upon the occasion, his anxiety for the Honor of the American Arms, and the noble cause we are engaged in…in short to be well prepared for an e[n]gagement is, under God, (whose divine Aid it behooves us to supplicate) more than one half the battle.

George Washington, General Orders (July 2, 1776) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their Houses, and Farms, are to be pillaged and destroyed, and they consigned to a State of Wretchedness from which no human efforts will probably deliver them. The fate of unborn Millions will now depend, under God, on the Courage and Conduct of this army—Our cruel and unrelenting Enemy leaves us no choice but a brave resistance, or the most abject submission; this is all we can expect—We have therefore to resolve to conquer or die: Our own Country’s Honor, all call upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world—Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the Cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands Victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble Actions—The Eyes of all our Countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings, and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the Tyranny meditated against them. Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and shew the whole world, that a Freeman contending for Liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.

The General recommends to the officers great coolness in time of action, and to the soldiers a strict attention and obedience, with a becoming firmness and spirit.

George Washington, General Orders (July 9, 1776) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

The Honorable Continental Congress having been pleased to allow a Chaplain to each Regiment…The Colonels or commanding officers of each regiment are directed to procure Chaplains accordingly; persons of good Characters and exemplary lives—To see that all inferior officers and soldiers pay them a suitable respect and attend carefully upon religious exercises: The blessings and protection of Heaven are at all times necessary but especially so in times of public distress and danger—The General hopes and trusts, that every officer, and man, will endeavor so to live, and act, as becomes a Christian Soldier defending the dearest Rights and Liberties of his country.

The Honorable the Continental Congress, impelled by the dictates of duty, policy and necessity, having been pleased to dissolve the Connection which subsisted between this Country, and Great Britain, and to declare the United Colonies of North America, free and independent STATES: The several brigades are to be drawn up this evening on their respective Parades, at six o’clock, when the declaration of Congress, shewing the grounds & reasons of this measure, is to be read with an audible voice.

The General hopes this important Event will serve as a fresh incentive to every officer, and soldier, to act with Fidelity and Courage, as knowing that now the peace and safety of his Country depends (under God) solely on the success of our arms: And that he is now in the service of a State, possessed of sufficient power to reward his merit, and advance him to the highest Honors of a free Country.

George Washington, General Orders (July 21, 1776) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

[T]he General most earnestly exhorts every officer, and soldier, to pay the utmost attention to his Arms, and Health; to have the former in the best order for Action, and by Cleanliness and Care, to preserve the latter; to be exact in their discipline, obedient to their Superiors and vigilant on duty: With such preparation, and a suitable Spirit, there can be no doubt, but by the blessing of Heaven, we shall repel our cruel Invaders; preserve our Country, and gain the greatest Honor.

George Washington, General Orders (August 3, 1776) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

That the Troops may have an opportunity of attending public worship, as well as take some rest after the great fatigue they have gone through; The General in future excuses them from fatigue duty on Sundays (except at the Shipyards, or special occasions) until further orders. The General is sorry to be informed that the foolish, and wicked practice, of profane cursing and swearing (a Vice heretofore little known in an American Army) is growing into fashion; he hopes the officers will, by example, as well as influence, endeavor to check it, and that both they, and the men will reflect, that we can have little hopes of the blessing of Heaven on our Arms, if we insult it by our impiety, and folly; added to this, it is a vice so mean and low, without any temptation, that every man of sense, and character, detests and despises it.

George Washington, General Orders (August 9, 1776) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

The General exhorts every man, both officer and soldier, to be prepared for action, to have his arms in the best order, not to wander from his encampment or quarters; to remember what their Country expects of them, what a few brave men have lately done in South Carolina, against a powerful Fleet & Army; to acquit themselves like men and with the blessing of heaven on so just a Cause we cannot doubt of success.

George Washington, General Orders (August 13, 1776) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

The Enemy’s whole reinforcement is now arrived, so that an Attack must, and will soon be made; The General therefore again repeats his earnest request, that every officer, and soldier, will have his Arms and Ammunition in good Order; keep within their quarters and encampment, as much as possible; be ready for action at a moments call; and when called to it, remember that Liberty, Property, Life and Honor, are all at stake; that upon their Courage and Conduct, rest the hopes of their bleeding and insulted Country; that their Wives, Children and Parents, expect Safety from them only, and that we have every reason to expect Heaven will crown with Success, so just a cause. The enemy will endeavor to intimidate by shew and appearance, but remember how they have been repulsed, on various occasions, by a few brave Americans; Their Cause is bad; their men are conscious of it, and if opposed with firmness, and coolness, at their first onset, with our advantage of Works, and Knowledge of the Ground; Victory is most assuredly ours.

George Washington, General Orders (August 14, 1776) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

We must resolve to conquer, or die; with this resolution and the blessing of Heaven, Victory and Success certainly will attend us…

George Washington, General Orders (August 23, 1776) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

The enemy have now landed on Long island, and the hour is fast approaching on which the honor and success of this army, and the safety of our bleeding country, depend. Remember officers and soldiers that you are free men, fighting for the blessings of liberty—that slavery will be your portion, and that of your posterity, if you do no acquit yourselves like men: Remember how your courage and spirit have been despised, and traduced by your cruel invaders, though they have found by dear experience at Boston, Charlestown, and other places, what a few brave men contending in their own land, and in the best of causes can do, against base hirelings and mercenaries.

It is the General’s express orders that if any man attempt to skulk, lay down, or retreat without Orders he be instantly shot down as an example, he hopes no such Scoundrel will be found in this army; but on the contrary, every one for himself resolving to conquer, or die, and trusting to the smiles of heaven upon so just a cause, will behave with Bravery and Resolution: Those who are distinguished for their Gallantry, and good Conduct, may depend upon being honorably noticed, and suitably rewarded: And if this Army will but emulate, and imitate their brave Countrymen, in other parts of America, he has no doubt they will, by a glorious Victory, save their Country, and acquire to themselves immortal Honor.

George Washington, General Orders (September 3, 1776) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

The General hopes the justice of the great cause in which they are engaged, the necessity and importance of defending this Country, preserving its Liberties, and warding off the destruction meditated against it, will inspire every man with Firmness and Resolution, in time of action, which is now approaching—Ever remembering that upon the blessing of Heaven, and the bravery of the men, our Country only can be saved.

George Washington, General Orders (February 4, 1777) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

The Honorable Governor and Assembly of New-Jersey, having directed Thursday the 6^th day of this Month, to be observed as a Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, by the Inhabitants of the State—The General desires the same may be observed by the Army.

George Washington, General Orders (April 12, 1777) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

All the troops in Morristown, except the Guards, are to attend divine worship to morrow morning at the second Bell; the officers commanding Corps, are to take especial care, that their men appear clean, and decent, and that they are to march in proper order to the place of worship.

George Washington, General Orders (May 17, 1777) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

All the troops in, and about Morristown, (those on duty excepted) are to attend divine service, tomorrow morning.

George Washington, Circular Instructions to the Brigade Commanders (May 26, 1777) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

Let Vice and Immorality of every kind be discouraged as much as possible in your Brigade and as a Chaplain is allowed to each Regiment see that the Men regularly attend divine Worship…

George Washington, General Orders (May 31, 1777) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

It is much to be lamented, that the foolish and scandalous practice of profane Swearing is exceedingly prevalent in the American Army—Officers of every rank are bound to discourage it, first by their example, and then by punishing offenders—As a mean to abolish this, and every other species of immorality—Brigadiers are enjoined, to take effectual care, to have divine service duly performed in their respective brigades.

George Washington, General Orders (June 28, 1777) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

All Chaplains are to perform divine service tomorrow, and on every succeeding Sunday, with their respective brigades and regiments, where the situation will possibly admit of it: And the commanding officers of corps are to see that they attend; themselves, with officers of all ranks, setting the example. The Commander in Chief expects an exact compliance with this order, and that it be observed in future as an invariable rule of practice—And every neglect will be considered not only a breach of orders, but a disregard to decency, virtue and religion.

George Washington, General Orders (July 5, 1777) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

Divine service to be performed tomorrow, in all the regiments which have chaplains.

George Washington, General Orders (October 5, 1777) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

[T]hey nevertheless see that the enemy are not proof against a vigorous attack, and may be put to flight when boldly pushed—This they will remember, and assure themselves that on the next occasion, by a proper exertion of the powers which God has given them, and inspired by the cause of freedom in which they are engaged, they will be victorious.

George Washington, General Orders (October 18, 1777) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

The General has his happiness completed relative to the successes of our northern Army. On the 14^th instant, General Burgoyne, and his whole Army, surrendered themselves prisoners of war—Let every face brighten, and every heart expand with grateful Joy and praise to the supreme disposer of all events, who has granted us this signal success—The Chaplains of the army are to prepare short discourses, suited to the joyful occasion to deliver to their several corps and brigades at 5 o’clock this afternoon…

George Washington, General Orders (November 30, 1777) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

[Quoting Congress] “Forasmuch as it is the indispensable duty of all men, to adore the superintending providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with gratitude their obligations to him for benefits received, and to implore such further blessings as they stand in need of: and it having pleased him, in his abundant mercy, not only to continue to us the innumerable bounties of his common providence, but also, to smile upon us in the prosecution of a just and necessary war, for the defense of our unalienable rights and liberties”—It is therefore recommended by Congress, that Thursday, the 18^th day of December next be set apart for Solemn Thanksgiving and Praise, that at one time, and with one voice, the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts, and consecrate themselves to the service of their divine benefactor; and that, together with their sincere acknowledgements and offerings, they may join the penitent confession of their sins; and supplications for such further blessings as they stand in need of—The Chaplains will properly notice this recommendation, that the day of thanksgiving may be duly observed in the army, agreeably to the intentions of Congress.

George Washington, General Orders (December 17, 1777)

Although in some instances we unfortunately failed, yet upon the whole, Heaven hath smiled on our arms and crowned them with signal success; and we may upon the best grounds conclude that by a spirited continuance of the measures necessary for our defense, we shall finally obtain the end of our warfare, Independence, Liberty, and Peace. These are blessings worth contending for at every hazard. But we hazard nothing. The power of America alone, duly exerted, would have nothing to dread from the force of Britain. Yet we stand not wholly upon our ground.

France yields us every aid we ask, and there are reasons to believe the period is not very distance when she will take a more active part by declaring war against the British Crown. Every motive therefore irresistibly urges us, nay commands us, to a firm and manly perseverance in our opposition to our cruel oppressors, to slight difficulties, endure hardships, and contemn every danger.

…he [Washington] persuades himself that the officers and soldiers, with one heart, and one mind, will resolve to surmount every difficulty with a fortitude and patience becoming their profession, and the sacred cause in which they are engaged. He himself will share in the hardship, and partake of every inconvenience.

Day of Thanksgiving Spoken of on November 30, 1777

The Commander in Chief with the highest satisfaction expresses his thanks to the officers and soldiers for the fortitude and patience with which they have sustained the fatigues of the Campaign—Although in some instances we unfortunately failed, yet upon the whole Heaven hath smiled on our Arms and crowned them with signal success; and we may upon the best grounds conclude, that by a spirited continuance of the measures necessary for our defense we shall finally obtain the end of our Warfare—Independence—Liberty and Peace—These are blessings worth contending for at every hazard…

Tomorrow being the day set apart by the Honorable Congress for public Thanksgiving and Praise; and duty calling us devoutly to express our grateful acknowledgements to God for the manifold blessings he has granted us—The General directs that the army remain in its present quarters, and that the Chaplains perform divine service with their several Corps and brigades—And earnestly exhorts, all officers and soldiers, whose absence is not indispensably necessary, to attend with reverence the solemnities of the day.

George Washington, General Orders (March 1, 1778)

Their [the officers and soldiers] fortitude not only under the common hardships incident to a military life, but also under the additional sufferings to which the peculiar situation of these States have exposed them, clearly proved them worthy the enviable privilege of contending for the rights of human nature, the Freedom and Independence of their country.

Surely we who are free Citizens in arms engaged in a struggle for everything valuable in society and partaking in the glorious task of laying the foundation of an Empire, should scorn effeminately to shrink under those accidents and rigors of War which mercenary hirelings fighting in the cause of lawless ambition, rapine and devastation, encounter with cheerfulness and alacrity, we should not be merely equal, we should be superior to them in every qualification that dignifies the man or the soldier in proportion as the motive from which we act and the final hopes of our Toils, are superior to theirs. Thank Heaven! our Country abounds with provision & with prudent management we need not apprehend want for any length of time.

[B]ut soldiers! American soldiers! will despise the meanness of repining at such trifling strokes of adversity, trifling indeed when compared to the transcendent Prize which will undoubtedly crown their patience and perseverance, glory and freedom, peace and plenty to themselves and the community; the admiration of the world, the love of their country, and the gratitude of posterity.

[H]e [Washington] is convinced the faithful officers and soldiers associated with him in the great work of rescuing our country from bondage and misery will continue in the display of that patriotic zeal which is capable of smoothing every difficulty and vanquishing every obstacle.

George Washington, General Orders (March 14, 1778)

Homosexuality

At a General Court Martial whereof Coll Tupper was President (10th March 1778) Lieutt Enslin of Coll Malcom’s Regiment tried for attempting to commit sodomy, with John Monhort a soldier; Secondly, For Perjury in swearing to false Accounts, found guilty of the charges exhibited against him, being breaches of 5^th Article 18^th Section of the Articles of War and do sentence him to be dismiss’d the service with Infamy—His Excellency the Commander in Chief approves the sentence and with Abhorrence & Detestation of such Infamous Crimes orders Lieutt Enslin to be drummed out of Camp tomorrow morning by all the Drummers and Fifers in the Army never to return; The Drummers and Fifers to attend on the Grand Parade at Guard mounting for that Purpose.

George Washington, General Orders (April 12, 1778)

The Honorable Congress having thought proper to recommend to The United-States of America to set apart Wednesday the 22^nd instant to be observed as a day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, that at one time and with one voice the righteous dispensations of Providence may be acknowledged and His Goodness and Mercy towards us and our Arms supplicated and implored—The General directs that this day also shall be religiously observed in the Army, that no work be done thereon and that the Chaplains prepare discourses suitable to the Occasion—The Funeral Honors at the Interment of officers are for the future to be confined to a solemn Procession of officers and soldiers in number suitable to the rank of the deceased with Reversed Arms; Firing on those occasions in Camp is to be abolished.

George Washington, General Orders (May 2, 1778)

The Commander in Chief directs that divine Service be performed every Sunday at 11 o’Clock in those Brigades to which there are Chaplains—those which have none to attend the places of worship nearest to them—It is expected that Officers of all Ranks will by their attendance set an Example to their men.

While we are zealously performing the duties of good Citizens and soldiers we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of Religion—To the distinguished Character of Patriot, it should be our highest Glory to add the more distinguished Character of Christian—The signal Instances of providential Goodness which we have experienced and which have now almost crowned our labors with complete Success, demand from us in a peculiar manner the warmest returns of Gratitude and Piety to the Supreme Author of all Good…

No fatigue Parties to be employed on Sundays till further Orders.

George Washington, General Orders (May 5, 1778)

A New Ally

It having pleased the Almighty ruler of the Universe propitiously to defend the Cause of the United American-States and finally by raising us up a powerful Friend [France] among the Princes of the Earth to establish our liberty and Independence upon lasting foundations, it becomes us to set apart a day for gratefully acknowledging the divine Goodness and celebrating the important Event which we owe to his benign Interposition.

The several Brigades are to be assembled for this Purpose at nine o’ Clock tomorrow morning when their Chaplains will communicate the Intelligence contained in the Postscript to the Pennsylvania Gazette of the 2^nd instant and offer up a thanksgiving and deliver a discourse suitable to the Occasion…

George Washington, General Orders (June 30, 1778)

The Men are to wash themselves this afternoon and appear as clean and decent as possible.

Seven o’clock this evening is appointed that We may publicly unite in thanksgivings to the supreme Disposer of human Events for the Victory which was obtained on Sunday over the Flower of the British Troops.

George Washington, To Brigadier General Thomas Nelson (August 20, 1778)

The Conspicuous Hand of Providence

The hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations—but—it will be time enough for me to turn preacher, when my present appointment ceases; and therefore, I shall add no more on the Doctrine of Providence.

George Washington, General Orders (April 12, 1779)

The Honorable the Congress having recommended it to the United States to set apart Thursday the 6^th of May next to be observed as a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer, to acknowledge the gracious interpositions of Providence; to deprecate deserved punishment for our Sins and Ingratitude, to unitedly implore the Protection of Heaven; Success to our Arms and the Arms of our Ally—The Commander in Chief enjoins a religious observance of said day and directs the Chaplains to prepare discourses proper for the occasion; strictly forbidding all recreations and unnecessary labor.

George Washington, General Orders (July 29, 1779)

Many and pointed orders have been issued against that unmeaning and abominable custom of Swearing, notwithstanding which, with much regret the General observes that it prevails, if possible, more than ever; His feelings are continually wounded by the Oaths and Imprecations of the soldiers whenever he is in hearing of them.

The Name of That Being, from whose bountiful goodness we are permitted to exist and enjoy the comforts of life is incessantly imprecated and profaned in a manner as wanton as it is shocking: For the sake therefore of religion, decency and order the General hopes and trusts that officers of every rank will use their influence and authority to check a vice, which is as unprofitable as it is wicked and shameful.

George Washington, General Orders (March 23, 1781)

In answer to your request to be appointed Chaplain of the Garrison at Wyoming I have to observe; that there is no provision made by Congress for such an establishment; without which, I should not be at liberty to make any appointment of the kind, however necessary or expedient (in my opinion), or however I might be disposed to give every species of countenance and encouragement to the cultivation of Virtue, Morality, and Religion.

George Washington, General Orders (September 15, 1781)

The Commander in Chief takes the earliest Opportunity of testifying the satisfaction he feels on Joining the Army under the Command of Major General the Marquis de la Fayette with prospects which (under the smiles of Heaven) he doubts not will crown their toils with the most brilliant success—A conviction that the Officers and soldiers of this Army will still be activated by that true Martial spirit and thirst of Glory which they have already exhibited on so many trying occasions and under circumstances far less promising than the present affords him the most pleasing sensations.

George Washington, General Orders (October 20, 1781)

Divine Service is to be performed tomorrow in the several Brigades or Divisions.

George Washington, General Orders (April 22, 1782)

The United States in Congress assembled having been pleased by their Proclamation dated the 19^th March last to appoint Thursday next the 25^th Instant to be set apart as a day of Fasting humiliation and Prayer for certain special purposes therein mentioned: the same is to be Observed accordingly throughout the Army, and the different Chaplains will prepare Discourses Suited to the Several Objects enjoined by the said Proclamation.

George Washington, Office Orders (June 19, 1782)

That Divine Providence may shed its choicest blessings upon the King of France and his Royal Consort and favor them with a long, happy and glorious reign—that the Dauphin may live to inherit the virtues and the Crown of his Illustrious progenitors—that he may Reign over the hearts of a happy and generous people, and be among the happiest in his kingdom is our sincere and fervent wish.

George Washington, General Orders (February 15, 1783)

The New building being so far finished as to admit the troops to attend public worship therein after tomorrow, it is directed that divine Services should be performed there every Sunday by the several Chaplains of the New Windsor Cantonment in rotation and in order that the different brigades may have an opportunity of attending at different hours in the same day (whenever the weather and other circumstances will permit which the Brigadiers and Commandants of brigades must determine) the General recommends that the Chaplains should in the first place consult the Commanding officers of their Brigades to know what hour will be most convenient and agreeable for attendance that they will then settle the duty among themselves and report the results to the Brigadiers and Commandants of Brigades who are desired to give notice in their orders and to afford every aid and assistance in their power for the promotion of that public Homage and adoration which are due to the supreme being—who has through his infinite goodness brought our public Calamities and dangers (in all human probability) very near to a happy conclusion.

The Commander in Chief also desires and expects the Chaplains in addition to their public functions will in turn constantly attend the Hospitals and visit the sick—and while they are thus publicly and privately engaged in performing the sacred duties of their office they may depend upon his utmost encouragement and support on all occasions, and that they will be considered in a very respectable point of light by the whole Army.

Proclamations, Speeches, and Other Official Statements

George Washington, Address to the Inhabitants of Canada (September 14, 1775) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

Friends and Brethren,

The unnatural Contest between the English Colonies and Great Britain, has now risen to such a Heighth [sic], that Arms alone must decide it. The Colonies, confiding in the Justice of their Cause, and the Purity of their Intentions, have reluctantly appealed to that Being, in whose Hands are all human Events. He has hitherto smiled upon their virtuous Efforts—The Hand of Tyranny has been arrested in its Ravages, and the British Arms which have shone with so much Splendor in every Part of the Globe, are now tarnished with Disgrace and Disappointment.—Generals of approved Experience, who boasted of subduing this great Continent, find themselves circumscribed within the Limits of a single City and its Suburbs, suffering all the Shame and Distress of a Siege. While the trueborn Sons of America, animated by the genuine Principles of Liberty and Love of their Country, with increasing Union, Firmness and Discipline repel every Attack, and despise every Danger.

Above all, we rejoice, that our Enemies have been deceived with Regard to you—They have persuaded themselves, they have even dared to say, that the Canadians were not capable of distinguishing between the Blessings of Liberty, and the Wretchedness of Slavery; that gratifying the Vanity of a little Circle of Nobility—would blind the Eyes of the People of Canada.—By such Artifices they hoped to bend you to their Views, but they have been deceived, instead of finding in you that Poverty of Soul, and Baseness of Spirit, they see with a Chagrin equal to our Joy, that you are enlightened, generous, and virtuous—that you will not renounce your own Rights, or serve as Instruments to deprive your Fellow Subjects of theirs.—Come then, my Brethren, unite with us in an indissoluble Union, let us run together to the same Goal.—We have taken up Arms in Defense of our Liberty, our Property, our Wives, and our Children, we are determined to preserve them, or die. We look forward with Pleasure to that Day not far remote (we hope) when the Inhabitants of America shall have one Sentiment, and the full Enjoyment of the Blessings of a free Government.

Incited by these Motives, and encouraged by the Advice of many Friends of Liberty among you, the Grand American Congress have sent an Army into your Province, under the Command of General Schuyler; not to plunder, but to protect you; to animate, and bring forth into Action those Sentiments of Freedom you have disclosed, and which the Tools of Despotism would extinguish through the whole Creation.—To co-operate with this Design, and to frustrate those cruel and perfidious Schemes, which would deluge our Frontiers with the Blood of Women and Children; I have detached Colonel Arnold into your Country, with a Part of the Army under my Command—I have enjoined upon him, and I am certain that he will consider himself, and act as in the Country of his Patrons, and best Friends. Necessaries and Accommodations of every Kind which you may furnish, he will thankfully receive, and render the full Value.—I invite you therefore as Friends and Brethren, to provide him with such Supplies as your Country affords; and I pledge myself not only for your Safety and Security, but for ample Compensation. Let no Man desert his Habitation—Let no one flee as before an Enemy. The Cause of America, and of Liberty, is the Cause of every virtuous American Citizen; whatever may be his Religion or his Descent, the United Colonies know no Distinction but such as Slavery, Corruption and arbitrary Domination may create. Come then, ye generous Citizens, range yourselves under the Standard of general Liberty—against which all the Force and Artifice of Tyranny will never be able to prevail.

George Washington, Undelivered First Inaugural Address: Fragments (April 30, 1789) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

We are this day assembled on a solemn and important occasion…not as a ceremony without meaning, but with a single reference to our dependence upon the Parent of all good…

If we had a secret resource of an nature unknown to our enemy, it was in the unconquerable resolution of our Citizens, the conscious rectitude of our cause, and a confident trust that we should not be forsaken by Heaven.

I solemnly assert and appeal to the searcher of hearts [Rom. 8:27] to witness the truth of it, that my leaving home to take upon myself the execution of this Office was the greatest personal sacrifice I have ever, in the course of my existence, been called upon to make.

In the next place, it will be recollected, that the Divine Providence hath not seen fit, that my blood should be transmitted or my name perpetuated by the endearing, though sometimes seducing channel of immediate offspring. I have no child for whom I could wish to make a provision—no family to build in greatness upon my Country’s ruins.

I feel the consolatory joys of futurity in contemplating the immense desarts [sic], yet untrodden by the foot of man, soon to become fair as the garden of God [Garden of Eden], soon to be animated by the activity of multitudes & soon to be made vocal with the praises of the Most High. [Ps. 7:17, et al] Can it be imagined that so many peculiar advantages, of soil & of climate, for agriculture & for navigation were lavished in vain—or that this Continent was not created and reserved so long undiscovered as a Theatre, for those glorious displays of Divine Munificence, the salutary consequences of which shall flow to another Hemisphere & extend through the interminable series of ages! Should not our Souls exult in the prospect! Though I shall not survive to perceive with these bodily senses, but a small portion of the blessed effects which our Revolution will occasion in the rest of the world; yet I enjoy the progress of human society & human happiness in anticipation.

Thus I have explained the general impressions under which I have acted: omitting to mention until the last, a principal reason which induced my acceptance. After a consciousness that all is right within and an humble hope of approbation in Heaven—nothing can, assuredly, be so grateful to a virtuous man as the good opinion of his fellow citizens.

If the blessings of Heaven showered thick around us should be spilled on the ground or converted to curses [Deut. 30, et al], through the fault of those for whom they were intended, it would not be the first instance of folly folly or perverseness in short-sighted mortals. The blessed Religion revealed in the word of God [Bible] will remain an eternal and awful monument to prove that the best Institutions may be abused by human depravity [reference to ancient Israel]; and that they may even, in some instances be made subservient to the vilest of purposes. Should, hereafter, those who are entrusted with the management of this government, incited by the lust of power & prompted by the supineness or venality of their Constituents, overleap the known barriers of this Constitution and violate the unalienable rights of humanity: it will only serve to shew, that no compact among men (however provident in its construction & sacred in its ratification) can be pronounced everlasting and inviolable—and if I may so express myself, that no wall of words—that no mound of parchment can be so formed as to stand against the sweeping torrent of boundless ambition on the one side, aided by the sapping current of corrupted morals on the other.

It is in my conception, worth the pains of an attempt, to endeavor to conciliate the good will of every description of honest men, when it can honestly be done. In conformity to this sentiment, I could wish to relieve the tender consciences of that industrious, frugal & valuable sect, [Quakers] who are religiously principled against supporting an armed force, by faithfully appropriating the whole monies which shall be collected from them, to the support of civil government…

It belongs to you especially to take measures for promoting the general welfare. It belongs to you to make men honest in their dealings with each other, by regulating the coinage & currency of money upon equitable principles as well as by establishing just weights and measures upon an uniform plan. Whenever an opportunity shall be furnished to you as public or as private men, I trust you will not fail to use your best endeavors to improve the education and manners of a people; to accelerate the progress of arts & Sciences; to patronize works of genius; to confer rewards for inventions of utility; and to cherish institutions favorable to humanity. Such are among the best of all human employments. Such exertion of your talents will render your situations truly dignified & cannot fail of being acceptable in the sight of the Divinity.

While others in their political conduct shall demean themselves as may seem ⟨dear⟩ to them, let us be honest. Let us be firm. Let us advance directly forward in the path of our duty. Should the path at first prove intricate & thorny, it will grow plain and smooth as we go. [Is. 40:4; Luke 3:5] In public as in private life, let the eternal line that separates right from wrong, be the fence…

I most earnestly supplicate that Almighty God, to whose holy keeping I commend my dearest Country, will never offer so fair an inheritance to become a prey to avar[ice].

George Washington, First Inaugural Address (April 30, 1789) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

On the one hand, I was summoned by my country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat which I had chosen with the fondest predilection, and, in my flattering hopes, with an immutable decision, as the asylum of my declining years: a retreat which was rendered every day more necessary as well as more dear to me by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent interruptions in my health to the gradual waste committed on it by time.

On the other hand, the magnitude and difficulty of the trust to which the voice of my country called me, being sufficient to awaken in the wisest and most experience of her citizens, a distrustful scrutiny into his qualifications could not but overwhelm with despondence on who, inheriting inferior endowments from nature an unpracticed in the duties of civil administration, ought to be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies.

…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: No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the People of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency…[which] cannot be compared with the means by which most governments have been established, without some return of pious gratitude along with a humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage…

[Speaking to members of Congress] [R]efer to the Great Constitutional Charter [the Constitution] under which you are assembled, and which, in defining your powers, designates the objects to which your attention is to be given…no separate views, nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of communities and interests; so, on another, that the foundations of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality, and the pre-eminence of free government be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its citizens, and command the respect of the world…

[T]here is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exists in the economy and course of nature an insoluble union between virtue and happiness, between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity…

[T]he propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained: and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people…

[A] reverence for the characteristic rights of freemen, and a regard for the public harmony, will sufficiently influence your deliberations on the question how far the former can be more impregnably fortified, or the latter be safely and advantageously promoted…

I must decline as inapplicable to myself any share in the personal emoluments [i.e. salary] which may be indispensably included in a permanent provision for the Executive Department…[my “salary” must] be limited to such actual expenditures as the public good may be thought to require…

I shall take my present leave, but not without resorting once more to the benign Parent of the human race, in humble supplication that since he has been pleased to favor the American people with opportunities for deliberating in perfect tranquility and dispositions for deciding with unparalleled unanimity on a form of Government, for the security of their Union, and the advancement of their happiness; so this divine blessing may be equally conspicuous in the enlarged views—the temperate consultations, and the wise measures on which the success of this Government must depend.

George Washington, Thanksgiving Proclamation (October 3, 1789) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

By the President of the United States of America. a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor—and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26^th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be—That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks—for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation—for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war—for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed—for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted—for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions—to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually—to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed—to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord—To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us—and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New-York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

Go: Washington

George Washington, Proclamation (January 1, 1795) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

When we review the calamities which afflict so many other Nations, the present condition of the United States affords much matter of consolation and satisfaction. Our exemption hitherto from foreign war, an increasing prospect of the continuance of that exemption, the great degree of internal tranquility we have enjoyed, the recent confirmation of that tranquility by the suppression of an insurrection which so wantonly threatened it, the happy course of our public affairs in general, the unexampled prosperity of all classes of our Citizens—are circumstances which peculiarly mark our situation with indications of the Divine Beneficence towards us. In such a state of things it is, in an especial manner, our duty as a people, with devout reverence and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our many and great obligations to Almighty God and to implore him to continue and confirm the blessings we experience.

Deeply penetrated with this sentiment, I George Washington President of the United States do recommend to all Religious Societies and Denominations and to all persons whomsoever within the United States to set apart and observe Thursday the nineteenth day of February next as a day of public Thanksgiving and prayer; and on that day to meet together and render their sincere and hearty thanks to the great ruler of Nations for the manifold and signal mercies, which distinguish our lot as a Nation; particularly for the possession of Constitutions of Government which unite and by their union establish liberty with order, for the preservation of our peace foreign and domestic, for the seasonable control which has been given to a spirit of disorder in the suppression of the late insurrection, and generally for the prosperous course of our affairs public and private; and at the same time humbly and fervently to beseech the kind author of these blessings graciously to prolong them to us—to imprint on our hearts a deep and solemn sense of our obligations to him for them—to teach us rightly to estimate their immense value—to preserve us from the arrogance of prosperity and from hazarding the advantages we enjoy by delusive pursuits—to dispose us to merit the continuance of his favors, by not abusing them, by our gratitude for them, and by a correspondent conduct as citizens and as men—to render this Country more and more a safe and propitious asylum for the unfortunate of other Countries—to extend among us true and useful knowledge—to diffuse and establish habits of sobriety, order, morality, and piety and finally to impart all the blessings we possess, or ask for ourselves, to the whole family of mankind…

On the February 19 specified in the Proclamation, Washington attended services at Christ Church in Philadelphia. The sermon was delivered by William White, an Episcopal bishop. His sermon was later published and dedicated to the President. He observed of Washington as follows:

It cannot have escaped the notice of any, that, since your elevation to the seat of supreme Executive authority, you have, in your official capacity, on all fit occasions, directed the public attention to the Being and the Providence of God: And this implies a sense, as well of the relation, which nations, in their collective capacities, bear to him, their Supreme Ruler; as of the responsibility to him of earthly Governors, for the execution of the trusts committed to them….We have a right, to apply the testimony of such a character, as the result of an enlightened conscience; and to think it an advantage to our cause, to pronounce, that a mind, which has embraced all the civil interests of the American people, has not overlooked the relation which they all bear, to the great truths of religion and of morals.

He declared that Washington’s actions were entirely appropriate for the chief officer of the nation:

The time, Sir, may come…[when] it will be no small part of the praise of the chief magistrate of the present day, that, as a result of his own judgment and consistently with his own practice, he made acknowledgments, which are in contrariety to a theory, that sets open the flood-gates of immorality.

Speeches and Public Proclamations

George Washington, Speech to the Delaware Chiefs (May 12, 1779)¹

You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are. Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention.

George Washington, Circular to State Governments (June 8, 1783)²

Blessing or Curse

I think it a duty incumbent on me, to make this my last official communication, to congratulate you on the glorious events which Heaven has been pleased to produce in our favor…and to give my final blessing to that country, in whose service I have spent the prime of my life, for whose sake I have consumed so many anxious days and watchful nights, and whose happiness being extremely dear to me, will always constitute no inconsiderable part of my own…

[W]e shall have equal occasion to felicitate ourselves on the lot which Providence has assigned us, whether we view it in a natural, a political or moral point of light.

The Citizens of America, placed in the most enviable condition, as the sole Lords and Proprietors of a vast tract of 516 | 517 continent, comprehending all the various soils and climates of the World, and abounding with all the necessaries and conveniences of life, are now by the last satisfactory pacification, acknowledged to be possessed of absolute freedom and independency; they are, from this period, to be considered as the Actors on a most conspicuous theater, which seems to be peculiarly designated by Providence for the display of human greatness and felicity…Heaven has crowned all its other blessings, by giving a fairer opportunity for political happiness, than any other Nation has ever been favored with…The foundation of our Empire was not laid in the gloomy age of ignorance and superstition, but at an epocha when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined, than at any former period, the researches of the human mind, after social happiness, have been carried to a great extent, the treasures of knowledge, acquired by the labors of philosophers, sages and legislatures, through a long succession of years, are laid open for our use, and their collected wisdom may be happily applied in the establishment of our forms of government; the free cultivation of letters, the unbounded extension of commerce, the progressive refinement of manners, the growing liberality of sentiment, and above all, the pure and benign light of Revelation, have had a meliorating influence on mankind and increased the blessings of society. At this auspicious, the United States came into existence as a Nation, and if their citizens should not be completely free and happy, the fault will be entirely their own.

Such is our situation, and such are our prospects: but notwithstanding the cup of blessing [1 Cor. 10:16] is thus reached out to us, notwithstanding happiness is ours, if we have a disposition to seize the occasion and make it our own; yet, it appears to me there is an option still left to the United States of America, that it is in their choice, and depends upon their conduct, whether they will be respectable and prosperous, or contemptible, 517 | 518 and miserable as a nation; this is the time of their [the United States’] political probation, this is the moment when the eyes of the whole World are turned upon them, this is the moment to establish or ruin their national character forever, this is the favorable moment to give such a tone to our Federal Government, as will enable it to answer the ends of its institution, or this may be the ill-fated moment for relaxing the powers of the Union, annihilating the cement of the Confederation, and exposing us to become the sport of European politics, which may play one state against another to prevent their growing importance, and to serve their own interested purposes. For according to the system of policy the state shall adopt at this moment, they will stand or fall, and by their confirmation or lapse, it is yet to be decided, whether the Revolution must ultimately be considered as a blessing or a curse [Deut. 11:26]: a blessing or a curse, not to the present age alone, for with our fate will the destiny of unborn millions be involved… 518 | 521

[I]n the meantime, let an attention to the cheerful performance of their proper business, as individuals, and as members of society, be earnestly inculcated on the citizens of America, that will they strengthen the hands of government, and be happy under its protection: everyone will reap the fruit of his labors, everyone will enjoy his own acquisitions without molestation and without danger [Ps. 128:2].

In this this state of absolute freedom and perfect security, who will grudge to yield a very little of his property to support the common interest of society, and ensure the protection of government?…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?… 521 | 522

[I]f there should be a refusal to comply with the requisitions for funds to discharge the annual interest of the public debts, and if that refusal should revive again all those jealousies and produce all those evils, which are now happily removed, Congress, who have in all their transaction shewn a great degree of magnanimity and justice, will stand justified in the sight of God and Man [Prov. 3:4; Luke 2:52; 2 Cor. 8:21], and the state alone which puts itself in opposition to the aggregate wisdom of the Continent, and follows such mistaken and pernicious councils, will be responsible for all the consequences… 522 | 524

It is, however, neither my wish or expectation, that the preceding observations should claim any regard, except so far as they shall appear to be dictated by a good intention, consonant to the immutable rules of Justice, calculated to produce a liberal system of policy, and founded on whatever experience may have been acquired by a long and close attention to public business… 524 | 526

I now make it my earnest prayer that God would have you and the State over which you preside in his holy protection, that he would incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government, and to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another, for their fellow citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have served in the field, and finally, that he would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy [Mic. 6:8], and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, [Jesus] and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation.

George Washington, Farewell Address to the Armies of the United States (November 2, 1783)³

The United States in Congress assembled, after giving the most honorable testimony to the merits of the federal armies, and presenting them with the thanks of their country for their long, eminent and faithful services, having thought proper, by their proclamation bearing date the 18^th day of October last, to discharge such part of the troops as were engaged for the war, and to permit the officers on furlough to retire from service from and after to-morrow; which proclamation having been communicated in the public papers for the information and government of all concerned, it only remains for the Commander-in-chief to address himself once more, 542 | 543 and that for the last time, to the armies of the United States (however widely dispersed the individuals who compose them may be), and to bid them an affectionate, a long farewell.

But before the Commander-in-chief takes his final leave of those he holds most dear, he wishes to indulge himself a few moments in calling to mind a slight review of the past.

A contemplation of the complete attainment (at a period earlier than could have been expected) of the object, for which we contended against so formidable a power, cannot but inspire us with astonishment and gratitude. The disadvantageous circumstances on our part, under which the war was undertaken, can never be forgotten. The singular interposition of Providence in our feeble condition were such, as could scarcely escape the attention of the most unobserving; while the unparalleled perseverance of the Armies of the U[nited] States, through almost every possible suffering and discouragement for the space of eight long years, was little short of a standing miracle…

Every American officer and soldier must now console himself for any unpleasant circumstances, which may have occurred, by a recollection of the uncommon scenes in which he has been called to act no inglorious part, and the astonishing events of which he has been a witness; events which have seldom, if ever before, taken place on the stage of human action; nor can they probably ever happen again. For who has before seen a disciplined army formed at once from such raw materials? Who, that was not a witness, could imagine, that the most violent local prejudices 543 | 544 would cease so soon; and that men, who came from the different parts of the continent, strongly disposed by the habits of education to despise and quarrel with each other, would instantly become but one patriotic band of brothers? Or who, that was not on the spot, can trace the steps by which such a wonderful revolution has been effected, and such a glorious period put to all our warlike toils?

It is universally acknowledged, that the enlarged prospects of happiness, opened by the confirmation of our independence and sovereignty, almost exceeds the power of description. And shall not the brave men, who have contributed so essentially to these inestimable acquisitions, retiring victorious from the field of war to the field of agriculture, participate in all the blessings, which have been obtained? In such a republic, who will exclude them from the rights of citizens, and the fruits of their labors? In such a country, so happily circumstanced, the pursuits of commerce and the cultivation of the soil will unfold to industry the certain road to competence. To those hardy soldiers, who are actuated by the spirit of adventure, the fisheries will afford ample and profitable employment; and the extensive and fertile regions of the West will yield a most happy asylum to those, who, fond of domestic enjoyment, are seeking for personal independence. Nor is it possible to conceive, that any one of the United States will prefer a national bankruptcy, and a dissolution of the Union, to a compliance with the requisitions of Congress, and the payment of its just debts; so that the officers and soldiers may expect considerable assistance, in recommencing their civil occupations, from the sums due to them from the public, which must and will most inevitably be paid.

In order to effect this desirable purpose…it is earnestly recommended to all the troops, that, with strong attachments to the Union, they should carry with them into civil society the most conciliating dispositions, and that they should prove themselves not less virtuous and useful as citizens, than they have been persevering and victorious as soldiers… 544 | 545 [L]et it be remembered, that the unbiased voice of the free citizens of the United States has promised the just reward and given the merited applause. Let it be known and remembered, that the reputation of the federal armies is established beyond the reach of malevolence; and let a consciousness of their achievements and fame still incite the men, who composed them, to honorable actions; under the persuasion that the private virtues of economy, prudence, and industry, will not be less amiable in civil life, than the more splendid qualities of valor, perseverance, and enterprise were in the field. Everyone may rest assured that much, very much, of the future happiness of the officers and men, will depend upon the wise and manly conduct, which shall be adopted by them when they are mingled with the great body of the community. And, although the General has so frequently given it as his opinion in the most public and explicit manner, that, unless the principles of the Federal Government were properly supported, and the powers of the Union increased, the honor, dignity, and justice of the nation would be lost forever; yet he cannot help repeating, on this occasion, so interesting a sentiment, and leaving it as his last injunction to every officer and every soldier, who may view the subject in the same serious point of light, to add his best endeavors to those of his worthy fellow citizens towards effecting these great and valuable purposes, on which our very existence as a nation so materially depends… 545 | 546

He wishes more than bare professions were in his power; that he were really able to be useful to them all in future life. He flatters himself, however, they will do him the justice to believe, that whatever could with propriety be attempted by him has been done. And being now to conclude these his last public orders, to take his ultimate leave in a short time of the military character, and to bid a final adieu to the armies he has so long had the honor to command, he can only again offer in their behalf his recommendations to their grateful country, and his prayers to the God of Armies. May ample justice be done them here, and may the choicest of heaven’s favors, both here and hereafter, attend those who, under the divine auspices, have secured innumerable blessings for others.

George Washington, Address to Congress on Resigning Commission (December 23, 1783)

A “Holy Keeping”—Washington’s Resignation

I have now the honor of offering my sincere congratulations to Congress and of presenting myself before them to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, and to claim the indulgence of retiring from the service of my country. Happy in the confirmation of our Independence and Sovereignty, and pleased with the opportunity afforded the United States of becoming a respectable Nation, I resign with satisfaction the Appointment I accepted with diffidence. A diffidence in my abilities to accomplish so arduous a task, which however was superseded by a confidence in the rectitude of our Cause, the support of the Supreme Power of the Union, and the patronage of Heaven.

The Successful termination of the War has verified the most sanguine expectations, and my gratitude for the interposition of Providence, and the assistance I have received from my Countrymen, increases with every review of the momentous Contest…

I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my Official life, by commending the Interests of our dearest Country to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of them, to his holy keeping [Jude 1:24].

Having now finished the work assigned to me, I retire from the great theater of action; and bidding an affectionate farewell to this august body under whose orders I have so long acted, I here my commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life.

Letters

George Washington, To Robin (c. 1749-50)

As it’s the greatest mark of friendship and esteem absent friends can show each other in writing and often communicating their thoughts to his fellow companions makes me endeavor to signalize myself in acquainting you from time to time and at all times my situation and employments of life, and could wish you would take half the pains of contriving me a letter by any opportunity as you may be well assured of its meeting with a very welcome reception…

George Washington, To Richard Corbin (January 28, 1754)

In a conversation at Green Spring, you gave me some room to hope for a commission above that of a Major, and to be ranked among the chief officers of this expedition. The command of the whole forces is what I neither look for, expect, nor desire; for I must be impartial enough to confess it is a charge too great for my youth and inexperience to be entrusted with. Knowing this, I have too sincere a love for my country to undertake that which may tend to the prejudice of it. But if I could entertain hopes that you thought me worthy of the post of Lieutenant Colonel, and would favor me so far as to mention it at the appointment of officers, I could not but entertain a true sense of the kindness.

I flatter myself that under a skillful commander, or man of sense (which I most sincerely wish to serve under) with my own application and diligent study of my duty, I shall be able to conduct my steps without censure, and in time, render myself worthy of the promotion that I shall be favored with now.

George Washington, To Mary Ball Washington (August 14, 1755)

If it is in my power to avoid going to the Ohio again, I shall; but if the Command is pressed upon me by the gentle voice of the country, and offered upon such terms as can’t be objected against, it would reflect eternal dishonor upon me to refuse it…

George Washington, To John Campbell, Earl of Loudon (July 25, 1756)

We the Officers of the Virginia Regiment beg leave to congratulate your Lordship on your safe arrival in America, and to express the deep sense we have of his Majesty’s great wisdom and paternal care for his Colonies in sending your Lordship to their protection at this critical juncture.

Full of hopes that a perfect Union of the Colonies will be brought about by your Lordship’s wisdom and authority, and big with expectations of seeing the extravagant insolence of an insulting, subtle, and inhuman enemy restrained, and of having it in our power to take our desired revenge: we humbly represent to your Lordship that we were the first troops in action on the continent on occasion of the present broils, and that by several engagements and continual skirmishes with the enemy, we have to our cost acquired a knowledge of them, and of their crafty and cruel practices which we are ready to testify with the greatest cheerfulness and resolution whenever you are happy as to be honored with the execution of your Lordship’s commands.

George Washington, To John Blair (April 17, 1758) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

Common decency, Sir, in a camp calls for the services of a Divine; and which ought not to be dispensed with, although the world should be so uncharitable as to think us void of Religion, & incapable of good Instructions.

George Washington, To James Wood (c. July 28, 1758)

How I shall thank Mrs. Wood for her favorable wishes? And how acknowledge my sense of obligations to the people in general for their choice of me [to the House of Burgesses], I am at a loss to resolve on—but why—can I do it more effectually than by making their interests (as it really is) my own and doing everything that lies in my little power for the honor and welfare of the county—I think not—and my best endeavors they may always command—I promise this now, when promises may be regarded—before they might pass as words of course.

George Washington, To Richard Washington (September 20, 1759)

My brother is safe arrived but little benefitted in point of health by his trip to England. The longing desire which for many years I have had of visiting the great metropolis of that Kingdom [London] is not in the least abated by his prejudices because I think the small share of health he enjoyed while there must have given a sensible check to any pleasures he might figure to himself, and would render any place irksome—but, I am now tied by the leg and must set inclination aside.

The scale of fortune in America is turned greatly in our favor, and success is become the boon companion of our fortunate generals [in the French and Indian War]…

I am now, I believe, fixed at this seat with an agreeable consort for life, and hope to find more happiness in retirement than I ever experience amidst a wide and bustling world.

George Washington, To Robert Stewart (April 27, 1763)⁴ | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

I enclose you a copy of Mr. Cary’s last Acct currt against me, which upon my honor and the faith of a Christian is a true one…

George Washington, To Capel and Osgood Hanbury (July 25, 1767)

Unseasonable as it may be to take any notice of the repeal of the Stamp Act at this time; yet, I cannot help observing that a contrary measure would have introduced very unhappy consequences. Those therefore who wisely foresaw this, and were instrumental in procuring the repeal of it are, in my opinion, deservedly entitled to the thanks of the well-wishers to Britain and her Colonies, and must reflect with pleasure that through their means many scenes of confusion and distress have been avoided. Mine they accordingly have, and always shall have, for their opposition to any Act of Oppression, for that Act could be looked upon in no other light by every person who would view it in its proper colors. I could wish it was in my power to congratulate you with success in having the commercial system of these Colonies put upon a more enlarged and extensive footing than it is because I am well satisfied that it would, ultimately, redound to the advantages of the Mother Country so long as the Colonies pursue trade and agriculture, and would be an effectual let to manufacturing among themselves—the money therefore which they raise would center in Great Britain as certain as the needle will settle to the poles.

George Washington, To Robert Cary & Company (July 25, 1769)

But if there are any articles contained in either of the respective invoices (paper only excepted) which are taxed by Act of Parliament for the purpose of raising a revenue in America, it is my express desire and request that they may not be sent, as I have never heartily entered into an association…not to import any article which now is, or hereafter shall be taxed for this purpose until the said Act or Acts is repealed. I am therefore particular in mentioning this matter as I am fully determined to adhere religiously to it, and may perhaps have wrote for some things unwittingly which may be under these circumstances.

George Washington, To Jonathan Boucher (March 21, 1772)⁵ | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

Your excuse for denying us the pleasure of your company with Governor Eden and Lady, though not strictly warranted by Scripture [the Bible], is nevertheless highly admissible, and I sincerely congratulate you upon the prospect of happiness, as I think there is a fair field of it opening to your view from the judiciousness of your choice.

George Washington, To Benedict Calvert (April 3, 1773)

My son in law and ward, Mr. Custis, has, as I have been informed, paid his addresses to your second daughter, and having made some progress in her affections required her in marriage…This acknowledgement being made, you must permit me to add sir, that at this, or in any short time, his youth, inexperience, and un-ripened education is, and will be insuperable obstacles in my eye to the completion of the marriage—as his guardian, I conceive it to be my indispensable duty (to endeavor) to carry him through a regular course of education, many branches of which, sorry I am to add, he is totally deficient of, and, to guard his youth to a more advanced age before an event, on which his own peace, and the happiness of another is to depend, takes place. Not that I have any doubt of the warmth of his affection, nor I hope I may add, any fears of a change in them; but at present, I do not conceive that he is capable of bestowing that due attention to the important consequences of a marriage state which is necessary to be done by those who are inclined to enter into it, and of course am unwilling he should do it till he is—if the affection they have avowed for each other is fixed upon a solid basis, it will receive no diminution in the course of two or three years, in which time he may prosecute his studies, and thereby render himself more deserving of the lady and useful to society. If unfortunately (as they are both young) there should be an abatement of affection on either side or both, it had better precede, than follow after, marriage.

Delivering sentiments thus will not, I hope, lead you into a belief that I am desirous of breaking of the match—to postpone it is all I have in view, for I shall recommend it to the young gentleman with the warmth that becomes a man of honor (notwithstanding he did not vouchsafe to consult either his mother or me on the occasion) to consider himself as much engaged to your daughter as if the indissoluble knot was tied. And, as the surest means of effecting this, to stick close to his studies (in which I flatter myself you will join me) by which he will, in a great measure, avoid those little flirtations with other girls which may, by diving the attention, contribute not a little to divide the affection.

George Washington, To Burwell Bassett (April 20, 1773) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

That we sympathize in the misfortune, and lament the decree which has deprived you of so dutiful a Child, & the World of so promising a young Lady, stands in no need, I hope, of argument to prove; but the ways of Providence being inscrutable, and the justice of it not to be scanned by the shallow eye of humanity, nor to be counteracted by the utmost efforts of human Power, or Wisdom; resignation, &, as far as the strength of our reason & religion can carry us, a cheerful acquiescence to the d[iv]ine will is what we are to aim at: & I am persuaded that your own good sense will arm you with fortitude to withstand the stroke, great as it is and enable you to console Mrs. Bassett whose loss, & feelings upon the occasion, are much to be pitied.

George Washington, To George Muse (January 29, 1774)

A Warning Against Drunkenness

I would advise you to be cautious in writing me a second [letter] of the same tenor [impertinent], for though I understand you were drunk when you did it, yet give me leave to tell you that drunkenness is no excuse for rudeness; and that, but for your stupidity and sottishness [being drunk] you might have known by attending to the public Gazettes [newspapers] (particularly Rinds of the 14^th of January last) that you had your full quantity of ten thousand acres of land allowed you…and all my concerns is that I ever engaged in behalf of so ungrateful and dirty a fellow as you are…but since I find what temper you are, I am sorry I took the trouble of mentioning the land, or your name in a letter, as I do not think you merit the least assistance from G:Washington.

George Washington, To George William Fairfax (June 10-15, 1774)

Parliament and the Power of Taxation

Our Assembly met at this place the 4th ulto [previous month] according to prorogation [time between legislative sessions], and was dissolved the 26th entering into a resolve of which the enclosed is a copy, and which the Governor thought reflected too much upon his Majesty and the British Parliament to pass over unnoticed—this dissolution was as sudden, as unexpected for there were other resolves of a much more spirited nature ready to be offered to the House which would have been adopted respecting the Boston Port Bill as it is called, but were withheld till the important business of the country [Virginia] could be gone through. As the case stands, the Assembly sat the 22 days for nothing—not a bill being passed, the Council being adjourned from the rising of the court to the day of the dissolution and came either to advise, or in opposition to the measure. The day after this event, the members convened themselves at the Raleigh Tavern and entered into the enclosed association which, being followed two days after by an express from Boston accompanied by the sentiments of some meetings in our sister Colonies to the northward, the proceedings mentioned in the enclosed papers were had thereupon and a general meeting requested of all the late representatives in this city on the first of August when it is hoped and expected that some vigorous measures will be effectually adopted to obtain that justice which is denied to our petitions and remonstrances.

In short, the Ministry [British government] may rely on it that Americans will never be taxed without their own consent, that the cause of Boston and the despotic measures in respect to it I mean now is and ever will be considered as the cause of American (not that we approve their condition in destroying the tea) and that we shall not suffer ourselves to be sacrificed by piecemeal, though God only knows what is to become of us, threatened as we are with so many hovering evils as hang over us at present; having a cruel and bloodthirsty enemy upon our backs, the Indians, between whom and our frontier inhabitants many skirmishes have happened, and with whom a general war is inevitable whilst those from whom we have a right to seek protection are endeavoring by every piece of art and despotism to fix the shackles of slavery upon us—This dissolution which it is said, and believed, will not be followed by an election till instructions are received from the Ministry has left us without the means of defense except under the old Militia and Invasion laws, which are by no means adequate to the exigencies of the country, for from the best accounts we have been able to get, there is a confederacy of the Western and Southern Indians formed against us and our settlement over the Allegheny Mountains, indeed in Hampshire, Augusta, etc. are in the utmost consternation and distress. In short, since the first settlement of this Colony, the minds of the people in it never were more disturbed by our situation so critical as at present, arising as I have said before from an invasion of our rights and privileges by the Mother Country—and our lives and properties by the savages whilst a cruel frost succeeded by as cruel a drought hath contributed not a little to our unhappy situation…To these may be added, and a matter of no small moment they are, that a total stop is now put to our courts of justice (for want of a Fee Bill, which expired the 12th of April last) and the want of circulating cash amongst us, for shameful it is that the meeting of merchants which ought to have been at this place the 25th of April never happened till about 10 days ago, and I believe will break up in a manner very dissatisfactory to everyone, if not injurious to their characters.

George Washington, To Bryan Fairfax (July 4, 1774)

[I] think the country never stood more in need of men of abilities and liberal sentiments than now, I entreated several gentleman at our church yesterday to press Colonel Mason to take a poll, as I really think Major Broadwater, though a good man, might do as well in the discharge of his domestic concerns as in the capacity of a legislator.

As to your political sentiments, I would heartily join you in them, so far as relates to a humble and dutiful petition to the throne, provided there was the most distant hope of success. But have we not tried already? Have we not addressed the Lord, and remonstrated to the Commons? And to what end? Did they deign to look at our petitions? Does it not appear as clear as the sun in its meridian brightness that there is a regular, systematic plan formed to fix the right and practice of taxation upon us? Does not the uniform conduct of Parliament for some years past confirm this? Do not all the debates, especially though just brought to us in the House of Commons on the side of government, expressly declare that American must be taxed in aid of the British funds, and that she has no longer resources within herself? Is there anything to be expected from petition after this? Is not the attack upon the liberty and property of the people of Boston, before restitution of the loss to the India Company was demanded, a plan and self-evident proof of what they are aiming at? Do not the subsequent bills (now I dare say Acts) for depriving the Massachusetts Bay of its charter, and for transporting offenders into other colonies or to Great Britain for trial, where it is impossible from the nature of the thing that justice can be obtained convince us that the administration is determined to stick at nothing to carry its point? Ought we not then to put our virtue and fortitude to the severe test?

…[F]or I think, whilst we are accusing others of injustice, we should be just ourselves, and how this can be whilst we owe a considerable debt, and refuse payment of it to Great Britain is to me inconceivable. Notwithstanding but the last extremity, I think can justify it. Whether this is now come is the question.

George Washington, To Bryan Fairfax (July 20, 1774)

But as I see nothing on the one hand to induce a belief that the Parliament would embrace a favorable opportunity of Reaping Acts which they go on with great rapidity to pass in order to enforce their tyrannical system, and on the other observe, or think I observe, that government is pursuing a regular plan at the expense of law and justice to overthrow our constitutional rights and liberties, how can I expect any redress from a measure which hath been ineffectually tried already—for sir, what is it we are contending against? Is it against paying the duty of 3d per pound on teach because burdensome? No, it is the right only we have all along disputed, and to this end we have already petitioned his majesty in as humble and dutiful a manner as subjects could do, nay more we applied to the House of Lord and House of Commons in their different legislative capacities setting for that, as Englishmen, we could not be deprived of this essential and valuable part of our constitution…

The conduct of the Boston people could not justify the rigor of their measures, unless there had been a requisition of payment and refusal of it, nor did that measure require an Act to deprive the government of Massachusetts Bay of their charter, or to exempt offenders from trial in the place where offenses were committed, as there was not, nor could not be, a single instance produced to manifest the necessity of it—are not all these things self-evident proofs of a fixed and uniform plan to tax us?

…what hope then from petitioning, when they tell us that now, or never, is the time to fix the matter—shall we after this whine and cry for relief when we have already tried it in vain? Or shall we supinely sit, and see one province after another fall, a sacrifice to despotism?…because we should then be asking a favor, and not claiming a right which by the law of nature and our constitution we are, in my opinion, indubitably entitled to…I think the Parliament of Great Britain hath no more right to put their hands into my pocket without my consent than I have to put my hands into yours for money. And this being already urged to them in a firm, but decent manner by all the colonies, what reason is there to expect anything from their justice?

…I think, at least I hope, that there is public virtue enough left among us to deny ourselves everything but the bare necessaries of life to accomplish this end—this we have a right to do, and no power upon earth can compel us to do otherwise till they have first reduced us to the most abject state of slavery that ever was designed for mankind.

[I] should much distrust my own judgment upon the occasion if my nature did not recoil at the thought of submitting to measures which I think subversive of everything that I ought to hold dear and valuable—and did I not find, at the same time, that the voice of mankind is with me.

George Washington, To Bryan Fairfax (August 24, 1774)

[I] could only in general add that an innate spirit of freedom first told me that the measures which administration hath for sometime been, and now are, most violently pursuing, are repugnant to every principle of natural justice, whilst much abler heads than my own hath fully convinced me that it is not only repugnant to natural right, but subversive of the laws and constitution of Great Britain itself, in the establishment of which some of the best blood in the Kingdom hath been spilt. Satisfied then that the Acts of a British Parliament are no longer governed by the principles of justice—that it is trampling upon the valuable rights of Americans, confirmed to them by charter and the constitution they themselves boast of, and convinced beyond the smallest doubt that these measures are the result of deliberation, and attempted to be carried into execution by the hand of power is it a time to trifle, or rick our Cause upon petitions which with difficulty obtain access, and afterwards are thrown by with utmost contempt?

For my own part, I shall not undertake to say where the line between Great Britain and her colonies should be drawn, but I am clearly of opinion that one ought to be drawn, and our rights clearly ascertained. I could wish, I own, that the dispute had been left to posterity to determine, but the crisis is arrived when we must assert our rights, or submit to every imposition that can be heaped upon us, till custom and use will make us as tame and abject slaves as the blacks we rule over with such arbitrary sway.

…I am as fully convinced as I am of my existence that there has been a regular, systematic plan formed to enforce them [the unjust taxes], and that nothing but unanimity in the colonies (a stroke they did not expect) and firmness can prevent it…

George Washington, To Robert McKenzie (October 9, 1774)

[I] conceive when you condemn the conduct of the Massachusetts people, you reason from effects, not causes, otherwise you would not wonder at a people who are everyday receiving fresh proofs of a systematic assertion of an arbitrary power, deeply planned to overturn the laws and constitution of their country, and to violate the most essential and valuable rights of mankind, being irritated, and with difficulty restrained from acts of the greatest violence and intemperance.

…give me leave, my good friend, to tell you that you are abused [he was a citizen of Massachusetts]—grossly abused, and this I advance with a degree of confidence and boldness which may claim your belief. Having better opportunities of knowing the real sentiments of the people you are among from the leaders of them, in opposition to the present measures of administration than you have from those whose business it is not to disclose truths, but to misrepresent facts in order to justify as much as possible to the world their own conduct. For give me leave to add, and I think I can announce as fact, that it is not the wish or the interest of the government, or any other upon this continent, separately or collectively, to set up for Independence. But this you may at the same time rely on, that none of them will ever submit to the loss of those valuable rights and privileges which are essential to the happiness of every free state, and without which life, liberty, and property are rendered totally insecure.

…give me leave to add as my opinion that more blood will be spilt on this occasion (if the Ministry [British government] are determined to push matters to extremity) than history has ever yet furnished instances of in the annals of North America…

I was involuntarily lead into a short discussion of this subject by your remarks on the conduct of the Boston people, and your opinion of their wishes to set up for independency. I am well satisfied as I can be of my existence that no such thing is desired by any thinking man in all North America. On the contrary, that it is the ardent wish of the warmest advocates for liberty that peace and tranquility upon constitutional grounds may be restored, and the horrors of civil discord prevented.

George Washington, To John West (January 13, 1775)

[B]ut two things are essentially necessary in the man to whom this charge [being a father] is committed—a capacity of judging, with propriety, the measures proper to be taken in the government of a youth—and leisure sufficient to attend the execution of these measures…

[A]s it is not my wish to deceive any person by promising what I do not think it is in my power to perform with that punctuality and rectitude which I conceive the nature of the trust would require of me—I do not however give a flat refusal to your request—I rather wish you to be fully informed of my situation that you may think with me, or as I do, that if it should please the Almighty to take you to himself so soon as you apprehend (but I hope without just cause) that your son may be placed in better hands than mine—If you think otherwise, I will do the best I can merely as guardian.

George Washington, To John Connolly (February 25, 1775)

With us here, things wear a disagreeable aspect, and the minds of men are exceedingly disturbed at the measures of the British government. The King’s speech and address of both Houses [of Parliament] prognosticate nothing favorable to us, but by some subsequent proceedings thereto, as well as by private letters from London, there is reason to believe the Ministry [the British government] would willy change their ground, from a conviction the forcible measures will be inadequate to the end designed.

George Washington, To George William Fairfax (May 31, 1775)

[T]he times are so ticklish that there is no such thing as answering for the payment of bills. You must therefore either take the chance of receiving bad ones, or suffer your money to lay dead.

Before this letter can reach you, you must, undoubtedly, have received an account of the engagement [Lexington and Concord] in the Massachusetts Bay between the Ministerial [British] troops (for we do not, nor cannot yet prevail upon ourselves to call them the King’s troops) and the provincials of that government…

General Gage [British general] acknowledges that the detachment under Lieutenant Colonel Smith was set out to destroy private property, or, in other words, to destroy a magazine which self-preservation obliged the inhabitants to establish.

Unhappy it is thought to reflect that a brother’s sword has been sheathed in a brother’s breast, and that the once happy and peaceful plains of America are either to be drenched in blood or inhabited by slaves. Sad alternative! But can a virtuous man hesitate in his choice?

George Washington, To Martha Washington (June 18, 1775)

I am now set down to write to you on a subject which fills me with an inexpressible concern—and this concern is greatly aggravated and increased when I reflect on the uneasiness I know it will give you—It has been determined in Congress that the whole army raised for the defense of the American Cause shall be put under my care…

You may believe me my dear Patcy, when I assure you, in the most solemn manner, that, so far from seeking this appointment, I have used every endeavor in my power to avoid it, not only from my unwillingness to part with you and the family, but from a consciousness of its being a trust too great for my capacity, and that I should enjoy more real happiness and felicity in one month with you, at home, that I have the most distant prospect of reaping abroad, if my stay was to be seven times seven years. But, as it has been a kind of destiny that has thrown me upon this service, I shall hope that my undertaking of it is designed to answer some good purpose…

[I]t was utterly out of my power to refuse this appointment without exposing my character to such censures as would have reflected dishonor upon myself, and given pain to my friends…

I shall rely therefore, confidently, on that Providence which has heretofore preserved and been bountiful to me.

George Washington, To Burwell Bassett (June 19, 1775)

I am now embarked on a tempestuous ocean from whence, perhaps, no friendly harbor is to be found. I have been called upon by the unanimous voice of the Colonies to the Command of the Continental Army—It is an honor I by no means aspired to—It is an honor I wished to avoid, as well from an unwillingness to quite the peaceful enjoyment of my family as from a thorough conviction of my own incapacity and want of experience in the conduct of so momentous a concern…

May God grant therefore that my acceptance of it may be attended with some good to the common cause and without injury (from want of knowledge) to my own reputation—I can answer but for three things, a firm belief of the justice of our Cause—close attention in the prosecution of it—and the strictest integrity. If these cannot supply the places of ability and experience, the cause will suffer, and more than probable my character long with it, as reputation derives its principal support from success…I shall not be deprived therefore of a comfort in the worst event if I retain a consciousness of having acted to the best of my judgment.

George Washington, To John Augustine Washington (June 20, 1775)

I am embarked on a wide ocean, boundless in its prospect and from whence, perhaps, no safe harbor is to be found. I have been called upon by the unanimous voice of the Colonies to take the Command of the Continental Army—an honor I neither sought after, nor desired, as I am thoroughly convinced. That it requires greater abilities and much experience than I am master of to conduct a business so extensive in its nature and arduous in the execution, but the partiality of the Congress, joined to a political motive, really left me without a choice…

I shall hope that my friends will visit, and endeavor to keep up the spirits of my wife as much as they can, as my departure will, I know, be a cutting stroke upon her…

George Washington, To the Officers of Five Virginia Companies (June 20, 1775)

I have launched into a wide and extensive field, too boundless for my abilities, and far, very far beyond my experience—I am called by the unanimous voice of the Colonies to command of the Continental Army…

I have only to beg of you therefore…for an exertion of your military skill, by no means to relax in the discipline of your respective companies.

I am at liberty to inform you gentlemen that the Congress in a Committee (which will, I dare say be agreed to when reported) have consented to a Continental currency—ordered two millions of dollars to be struck, and voted 15,000 men…

George Washington, To Martha Washington (June 23, 1775)

I could not think of departing from it without dropping you a line, especially as I do not know whether it may be in my power to write again till I get to the camp at Boston—I go fully trusting that Providence which has been more bountiful to me than I deserve, and in full confidence of a happy meeting with you sometime in the Fall…

I retain an unalterable affection for you which neither time nor distance can change…

George Washington, To Richard Henry Lee (July 10, 1775)

Between you and me, I think we are in an exceeding [sic] dangerous situation, as our numbers are not much larger than we suppose from the best accounts we are able to get those of the enemy to be…

I can only promise and assure them [Congress] that my whole time is devoted to their service, and that as far as my judgment goes, they shall have no cause to complain.

George Washington, To John Augustine Washington (July 27, 1775)

I found a mixed multitude of people here [Cambridge, Massachusetts], under very little discipline, order, or government—I found the enemy in possession of a place called Bunkers Hill on Charlestown neck, strongly entrenched and fortifying themselves…My whole time since I came here has been employed in throwing up lines of defense at these three several places to secure in the first instance our own troops from any attempts of the enemy, and in the next to cut off all communication between their troops and the country, for to do this, and to prevent them from penetrating into the country with fire and sword, and to harass them if they do, is all that is expected of me, and if effected, must totally overthrow the designs of administration [of the British]…this renders our situation not very agreeable, though necessary, however, by incessant labor (Sundays not excepted [for the Sabbath]) we are in a much better posture of defense now than when we first came.

The enemy are sickly, and scarce of fresh provisions…In short, I have and shall continue to do everything in my power to distress them…Our works and those of the enemy are so near and quite open between that we everything that each other is doing—I recollect nothing more worth mentioning…

George Washington, To Thomas Gage (August 11, 1775)

Writing to a British General

Let your opinion, sir, of [American soldiers] be what it may, they suppose they act from the noblest of all principles, a love of freedom and their country. But political opinions I conceive are foreign to this point, the obligations arising from the rights of humanity and claims of rank are universally binding and extensive, except in case of retaliation. These, I should have hoped, would have dictated a more tender treatment of those individuals whom chance or war had put in your power—nor can I forbear suggesting its fatal tendency to widen the unhappy breach which you and those Ministers under whom you act [the British government] have repeatedly declared you wished to see forever closed.

My duty now makes it necessary to apprise you that for the future I shall regulate my conduct towards those gentlemen who are or may be in our possession exactly by the rule which you shall observe towards those of ours who may be in your custody. If severity and hardship mark the line of your conduct (painful as it may be to me) your prisoners will feel its effects. But if kindness and humanity are shown to ours, I shall with pleasure consider those in our hands only as unfortunate, and they shall receive the treatment to which the unfortunate are ever entitled.

George Washington, To Thomas Gage (August 19, 1775)

Writing to a British General

I remonstrated with you [in a previous letter] on the unworthy treatment shown to the officers and citizens of America, whom the fortune of war, chance, or a mistaken confidence had thrown into your hands. Whether British or American mercy, fortitude, and patience are most preeminent; whether our virtuous citizens whom the hand of tyranny has forced into arms to defend their wives, their children, and their property; or the mercenary instruments of lawless domination, avarice, and revenge best deserve the appellation of rebels, and the punishment of that cord which you affected clemency has forborne to inflict; whether the authority under which I act is usurped, or founded on the genuine principles of liberty, were altogether foreign to my subject. I purposely avoided all political disquisition, nor shall I now avail myself of those advantages which the sacred Cause of my country, of liberty, and human nature give me over you.

Not only your officers and soldiers have been treated with a tenderness due to fellow citizens and brethren, but even those execrable parricides whose counsels and aid have deluged their country with blood have been protected from the fury of a justly enraged people. Far from compelling or even permitting their assistance, I am embarrassed with the numbers who crowd to our camp animated with the purest principles of virtue and love of their country.

You affect, sir, to despise all rank not derived from the same source with your own. I cannot conceive any more honorable that that which flows from the uncorrupted choice of a brave and free people—the purest source and original fountain of all power. Far from making it a plea for cruelty, a mind of true magnanimity and enlarged ideas would comprehend and respect it.

May that God to whom you then appealed judge between America and you! Under his Providence, those who influence the councils of American, and all the other inhabitants of these united Colonies, at the hazard of their lives, are resolved to hand down to posterity those just and invaluable privileges which they received from their ancestors.

George Washington, To Colonel Benedict Arnold (September 14, 1775)

You are entrusted with a Command of the utmost Consequence to the Interest & Liberties of America: Upon your Conduct & Courage & that of the Officers and ⟨Soldiers⟩ detached on this Expedition, not only the Success of the present Enterprise & your own Honor, but the Safety and Welfare of the whole Continent may depend. I ⟨charge⟩ you therefore and the Officers & Soldiers ⟨under⟩ your Command as you value your own Safety and Honor, & the Favor and Esteem of your Country that you consider yourselves as marching not through an Enemies Country, but that of our Friends and Brethren, for such the Inhabitants of Canada & the Indian Nations have approved themselves in this unhappy Contest between Great Britain & America.

That you check by every Motive of Duty, and Fear of Punishment every Attempt to Plunder or insult any of the Inhabitants of Canada. Should any ⟨American Soldier be so base⟩ and infamous as ⟨to injure⟩ any Canadian or Indian in his Person or Property, I do most earnestly enjoin you to bring him to such severe & exemplary Punishment as the Enormity of the Crime may require. Should it extend to Death itself, it will not be disproportionate to its Guilt at such a Time and in such a Cause. But I hope and trust that the brave Men who have voluntarily engaged in this Expedition will be governed by different Views that Order, Discipline, & Regularity of Behavior⟩ will be as conspicuous as their Courage & Valor. I also give it in Charge to you to avoid all Disrespect or Contempt of the Religion of the Country and its Ceremonies—Prudence, Policy and a true Christian Spirit will lead us to look with Compassion upon their Errors without insulting them—While we are Contending for our own Liberty, we should be very cautious of violating the Rights of Conscience in others; ever considering that God alone is the Judge of the Hearts of Men and to him only in this Case they are answerable.

Upon the whole, Sir, I beg you to inculcate upon the Officers,1 the Necessity of preserving the Strictest Order during their March through Canada to represent to them ⟨the Shame & Disgrace⟩ and Ruin to themselves & Country if they should by their Conduct turn the Hearts of our Brethren in Canada against us. And on the other Hand the Honor and Rewards which await them, if by their Prudence, and good Behavior they conciliate the Affections of the Canadians & Indians to the great Interests of America, & convert those favorable Dispositions they have shewn into a lasting Union and Affection.

George Washington, Instructions to Colonel Benedict Arnold (September 14, 1775)

1. You are immediately on their March from Cambridge to take the Command of the Detachment from the Continental Army against Quebec, & use all possible Expedition as the Winter Season is now Advancing, and the Success of this Enterprise (under God) depends wholly upon the Spirit with which it is pushed, & the favorable Disposition of the Canadians & Indians…

4. In order to cherish those favorable Sentiments to the American cause that they have manifested you are as soon as you arrive in their Country to disperse a Number of the Addresses you will have with you,3 particularly in those Parts where your Rout shall lay, and observe the strictest Discipline & good Order, by no Means suffering any Inhabitant to be abused or in any Manner injured either in his Person or Property—punishing with exemplary Severity every Person who shall transgress & making ample Compensation to the Party injured.

5. You are to endeavor on the other Hand to conciliate the Affections of those People & such Indians as you may meet with by every Means in your Power—convincing them that we Come at the Request of many of their Principal People, not as Robbers or to make War upon them but as the Friends & Supporters of their Liberties as well as ours: And to give Efficacy to these Sentiments you must carefully inculcate upon the Officers & Soldiers under your Command that not only the Good of their Country & their Honor, but their Safety depends upon the Treatment of this People.

6. Check every Idea; & crush in its earliest Stage every Attempt to plunder even those who are known to be Enemies to our Cause, it will create dreadful Apprehensions in our Friends, and when it is once begun none can tell where it will Stop, I therefore again most expressly order that it be discouraged & punished in every Instance without Distinction…

14. As the Contempt of the Religion of a Country by ridiculing any of its Ceremonies or affronting its Ministers or Votaries has ever been deeply resented—You are to be particularly careful to restrain every Officer & Soldier from such Imprudence & Folly & to punish every Instance of it—On the other Hand as far as lays in your Power you are to protect & support the free Exercise of the Religion of the Country & the undisturbed Enjoyment of the Rights of Conscience in religious Matters with your utmost Influence & Authority[.]

George Washington, Address to the Inhabitants of Canada (September 14, 1775)

Friends and Brethren,

The unnatural Contest between the English Colonies and Great Britain, has now risen to such a Heighth [sic], that Arms alone must decide it. The Colonies, confiding in the Justice of their Cause, and the Purity of their Intentions, have reluctantly appealed to that Being, in whose Hands are all human Events. He has hitherto smiled upon their virtuous Efforts—The Hand of Tyranny has been arrested in its Ravages, and the British Arms which have shone with so much Splendor in every Part of the Globe, are now tarnished with Disgrace and Disappointment. Generals of approved Experience, who boasted of subduing this great Continent, find themselves circumscribed within the Limits of a single City and its Suburbs, suffering all the Shame and Distress of a Siege. While the trueborn Sons of America, animated by the genuine Principles of Liberty and Love of their Country, with increasing Union, Firmness and Discipline repel every Attack, and despise every Danger.

Above all, we rejoice, that our Enemies have been deceived with Regard to you—They have persuaded themselves, they have even dared to say, that the Canadians were not capable of distinguishing between the Blessings of Liberty, and the Wretchedness of Slavery; that gratifying the Vanity of a little Circle of Nobility—would blind the Eyes of the People of Canada. By such Artifices they hoped to bend you to their Views, but they have been deceived, instead of finding in you that Poverty of Soul, and Baseness of Spirit, they see with a Chagrin equal to our Joy, that you are enlightened, generous, and virtuous—that you will not renounce your own Rights, or serve as Instruments to deprive your Fellow Subjects of theirs. Come then, my Brethren, unite with us in an indissoluble Union, let us run together to the same Goal. We have taken up Arms in Defense of our Liberty, our Property, our Wives, and our Children, we are determined to preserve them, or die. We look forward with Pleasure to that Day not far remote (we hope) when the Inhabitants of America shall have one Sentiment, and the full Enjoyment of the Blessings of a free Government.

Incited by these Motives, and encouraged by the Advice of many Friends of Liberty among you, the Grand American Congress have sent an Army into your Province, under the Command of General Schuyler; not to plunder, but to protect you; to animate, and bring forth into Action those Sentiments of Freedom you have disclosed, and which the Tools of Despotism would extinguish through the whole Creation. To co-operate with this Design, and to frustrate those cruel and perfidious Schemes, which would deluge our Frontiers with the Blood of Women and Children; I have detached Colonel Arnold into your Country, with a Part of the Army under my Command—I have enjoined upon him, and I am certain that he will consider himself, and act as in the Country of his Patrons, and best Friends. Necessaries and Accommodations of every Kind which you may furnish, he will thankfully receive, and render the full Value. I invite you therefore as Friends and Brethren, to provide him with such Supplies as your Country affords; and I pledge myself not only for your Safety and Security, but for ample Compensation. Let no Man desert his Habitation—Let no one flee as before an Enemy. The Cause of America, and of Liberty, is the Cause of every virtuous American Citizen; whatever may be his Religion or his Descent, the United Colonies know no Distinction but such as Slavery, Corruption and arbitrary Domination may create. Come then, ye generous Citizens, range yourselves under the Standard of general Liberty—against which all the Force and Artifice of Tyranny will never be able to prevail.

George Washington, To Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Reed (January 14, 1776)

You cannot render a more acceptable service, nor in my estimation give me a more convincing proof of your friendship than by a free, open, and undisguised account of every matter relative to myself, or conduct. I can bear to hear of imputed, or real errors; the man who wishes to stand well in the opinion of others must do this, because he is thereby enabled to correct his faults, or remove the prejudices which are imbibed against him…

…for as I have but one capitol object in view, I could wish to make my conduct coincide with the wishes of mankind as far as I can consistently—I mean without departing from that great line of duty which, though hid under a cloud for some time from a peculiarity of circumstances may nevertheless bear a scrutiny.

Thus am I situated with respect to men—with regard to Arms I am yet worse of—before the dissolution of the old Army I issued an order directing three judicious men of each brigade to attend—review—and appraise the good arms of every regiment—and finding a very great unwillingness in to the men to part with their arms, at the same time, not having it in my power to pay them for the months of November and December, I threatened, severely, that every soldier who carried away his firelock without leave should never receive pay for those months…

Few people know the predicament we are in, on a thousand accounts—fewer still will believe, if any disaster happens to these lines from what causes it flows—I have often though how much happier I should have been if, instead of accepting of a command under such circumstances, I had taken my musket upon my shoulder and entered the ranks or, if I could have justified the measure to posterity and my own conscience, had retired to the back country and lived in a wigwam [Indian dwelling]—If I shall be able to rise superior to these, and many other difficulties which might be enumerated, I shall most religious believe that the finger of Providence is in it, to blind the eyes of our enemies, for surely if we get well through this month, it must be for want of their knowing the disadvantages we labor under.

George Washington, To the First Church of Woodstock (March 24, 1776)

Mr. Leonard is a man whose exemplary Life and Conversation, must make him highly esteemed by every person, who has the pleasure⟩ of being acquainted with him—the Congregation of Woodstock Know him well, it therefore Can be no Surprise to us, to hear that they will be Loth to part with him, his usefulness in this Army is great—he is employed in the glorious work of attending to the Morals, of a brave people who are fighting for their Liberties, the Liberties of the people of Woodstock, the Liberties of all America, We therefore hope—that Knowing how nobly he is employed—the Congregation of Woodstock will cheerfully give up to the public, a gentleman So very useful, and when by the blessing of a Kind providence this glorious and unparalleled Struggle for our Liberties, is at an end, We have not the Least doubt, but Mr. Leonard will with redoubled joy, be received in the open arms of a Congregation So very dear to him, as the good people of Woodstock are.

George Washington, To John Hancock (April 18, 1776) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

Agreeable to your request, I have communicated in General Orders to the Officers and Soldiers under my Command, the thanks of Congress for their good behavior in the Service; and am happy in having such an opportunity of doing justice to their merit—They were indeed, at first “a band of undisciplined Husbandmen” but it is (under God) to their bravery, and attention to their duty, that I am indebted for that success which has procured me the only reward I wish to receive—the affection, and esteem of my Countrymen.

George Washington, To Lund Washington (August 26, 1776) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

I, in behalf of the Noble cause we are engaged in, and myself, thank with a grateful Heart all those who supplicate the throne of grace for success to the one and preservation of the other. That being from whom nothing can be hid will, I doubt not, listen to our Prayers, and protect our Cause and the supporters of it, as far as we merit his favor and Assistance. If I did not think our struggle just, I am sure it would meet with no assistance from me—and sure I am that no pecuniary Satisfaction upon Earth can compensate the loss of all my domestic happiness and requite me for the load of business which constantly presses upon and deprives me of every enjoyment.

George Washington, To Colonel Fisher Gray (September 4, 1776) | See Quote Archive | George Washington on Religion

[T]he safety of the Army, and the good of the Cause depends, under God, upon our vigilance and Readiness to oppose a Crafty and enterprising enemy, who are always upon the watch to take advantages.

George Washington, To Edmund Pendleton (April 12, 1777)

Your friendly, and affectionate wishes for my health and success has a claim to my thankful acknowledgements—and, that the God of Armies may enable me to bring the present contest to a speedy and happy conclusion, thereby gratifying me in a retirement to the calm and sweet enjoyment of domestic happiness, is the fervent prayer, and most ardent wish of my Soul.

George Washington, To Brigadier General Thomas Nelson (September 27, 1777)

Here I must remark, that our distress for want of Shoes, is almost beyond conception and that from this circumstance our operations and pursuit have been impracticable. I am taking every measure to obtain a Supply, and I hope to be able to move in a Short time especially when we are Joined by some Reinforcements that are coming on, and that under the favor of heaven, Our affairs will assume a more agreeable Aspect, than they now have.

George Washington, To Brigadier General Thomas Nelson (August 20, 1778)

The Conspicuous Hand of Providence

The arrival of the French fleet upon the coast of America is a great and striking event, but the operation of it have been injured by a number of unforeseen and unfavorable circumstances which, though they ought not to detract from the merit and good intention of our great ally has nevertheless lessened the importance of their services in a great degree.

I do not know what to make of the enemy at New York, whether their stay at that place is the result of choice, or the effect of necessity, proceeding from an inferiority in the fleet, want of provision, or causes, I know not, but certain it is that, if it is not an act of necessity it is profoundly mysterious unless they look for considerable reinforcements and are waiting [sic] the arrival of them to commence their operations, time will show.

It is not a little pleasing, nor less wonderful to contemplate that after two years maneuvering and undergoing the strangest vicissitudes that perhaps ever attended any one contest since the creation of both armies are both back to the very point they set out from and, that that which was the offending party in the beginning is now reduced to the use of the space and pick ax for defense.

The hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations—but—it will be time enough for me to turn preacher, when my present appointment ceases; and therefore, I shall add no more on the Doctrine of Providence.

George Washington, To the Minister, Elders, and Deacons of the Dutch Reformed Church at Raritan, NJ (June 2, 1779)

In quartering an army and in supplying its wants, distress and inconvenience will often occur to the citizen—I feel myself happy and in a consciousness that these have been strictly limited by necessity, and in your opinion of my attention to the rights of my fellow citizens.

I thank you gentlemen sincerely for the sense you entertain of the conduct of the army, and for the interest you take in my welfare. I trust the goodness of the cause and the exertions of the people under divine protection will give us that honorable peace for which we are contending. Suffer me Gentlemen to wish the reformed church of Raritan a long continuance of its present Minister and consistory and all the blessings which flow from piety and religion.

George Washington, To Jacob Johnson (March 23, 1781)

In answer to your request to be appointed Chaplain of the Garrison at Wyoming I have to observe; that there is no provision made by Congress for such an establishment; without which, I should not be at liberty to make any appointment of the kind, however necessary or expedient (in my opinion), or however I might be disposed to give every species of countenance & encouragement to the cultivation of Virtue, Morality, and Religion.

George Washington, To E. Westerlo (June 28, 1782)

Your benevolent wishes & fervent prayers for my personal welfare and felicity, demand all my gratitude. May the preservation of your civil and religious Liberties still be the care of an indulgent Providence; and may the rapid increase and universal extension of knowledge virtue and true Religion be the consequence of a speedy & honorable Peace.

George Washington, To George J.L. Doll (November 16, 1782)

Convinced that our Religious Liberties were as essential as our lives, my endeavors have never been wanting to encourage and promote the one while I have been contending for the other—and I am highly flattered by finding that my efforts have met the approbation of so respectable a body.

In return for your kind concern for my temporal & eternal happiness, permit me to assure you that my wishes are reciprocal—and that you may be enabled to hand down your Religion pure & undefiled to a Posterity worthy of their Ancestors is [my] fervent prayer…

George Washington, To Jean de Neufville (April 25, 1783)

The part your States have taken in the Causes of the United States of America, has inspired the Sons of the Latter, with the happiest presages of a most beneficial Connection between the two Republics—Sister Republics—whose similarity of Constitution’s, Interests & Religion bid fair to bind them together by the most lasting Ties—The Idea gives me peculiar Satisfaction—And it is the Wish of my Heart, that the Union now commencing, may be as durable as it is pleasing—nay—that, grounded in reciprocal Interest & Affection, it may be perpetual as Time.

The distinguished part you have taken in the great Events of the present Age, and your Affection for the Interests of Happiness of our rising Nation, will endear your Character with the Sons of American Freedom, among whom you have long been spoken of with Terms of particular Veneration & Respect.

George Washington, To John Rodgers (June 11, 1783)

Aikin Bible

Glorious indeed has been our Contest; glorious, if we consider the prize for which we have contended, and glorious in its Issue: But in the midst of our Joys, I hope we shall not forget that, to Divine Providence is to be ascribed the Glory & the Praise.

Your Proposition respecting Mr. Aikins’ Bible would have been particularly noticed by me, had it been suggested in season. But the late Resolution of Congress for discharging Part of the Army, take off near two thirds of our Numbers, it is now too late to make the Attempt. It would have pleased me well, if Congress had been pleased to make such an important present to the brave fellows; who have done so much for the Security of their Country’s Rights and Establishment.

George Washington, To John Witherspoon (August 25, 1783)

The part your States have taken in the Causes of the United States of America, has inspired the Sons of the Latter, with the happiest presages of a most beneficial Connection between the two Republics—Sister Republics—whose similarity of Constitution’s, Interests & Religion bid fair to bind them together by the most lasting Ties…

If in the execution of an arduous Office I have been so happy as to discharge my duty to the Public with fidelity and success, and to obtain the good opinion of my fellow Soldiers and fellow Citizens; I attribute all the glory to that Supreme Being, who hath caused the several parts which have been employed in the production of the wonderful Events we now contemplate, to harmonize in the most perfect manner—and who was able by the humblest instruments as well as by the most powerful means to establish and secure the liberty and happiness of these United States.

I now return you Gentlemen my thanks for your benevolent wishes, and make it my earnest prayer to Heaven, that every temporal and divine blessing may be bestowed on the Inhabitants of Princeton, on the neighborhood, and on the President and Faculty of the College of New Jersey, and that the usefulness of this Institution in promoting the interests of Religion & Learning may be universally extended.

George Washington, To Joshua Holmes (December 2, 1783)

The bosom of America is open to receive not only the opulent and respectable Stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all Nations and Religions; whom we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges, if by decency and propriety of conduct they appear to merit the enjoyment.

George Washington, To Benjamin Lincoln (February 11, 1788)

It is unnecessary for me to offer any consolation on the present occasion; for to a mind like yours, it can only be drawn from that source which never fails to give a bountiful supply to those who reflect justly. Time alone, can blunt the keen edge of afflictions. Philosophy and Religion holds out to us such hopes as will, upon proper reflection, enable us to bear with fortitude the most calamitous incidents of life, and these are all that can be expected from the feelings of humanity; and all which they will yield.

George Washington, To Samuel Griffin (April 30, 1788)

Inf[l]uenced by a heart-felt desire to promote the cause of Science in general and the prosperity of the College of William and Mary in particular, I accept the office of Chancellor in the same; and request you will be pleased to give official notice thereof to the learned Body, who have thought proper to honor me with the appointment. I consider fully in their strenuous endeavors for placing the system of Education on such a basis as will render it most beneficial to the State, and the Republic of letters, as well as to the more extensive interests of humanity and religion.

George Washington, To Francois Vanderkemp (May 28, 1788)

I had always hoped that this land might become a safe and agreeable Asylum to the virtuous & persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong.

I shall flatter myself that many of them [from Holland] will be able with the wrecks of their fortunes which may have escaped the extensive devastation, to settle themselves in comfort, freedom and ease in some corner of the vast regions of America. The spirit of the Religions and the genius of the political Institutions of this Country must be an inducement.

George Washington, To John Lathrop (June 22, 1788)

The provision made for Ship-wrecked Mariners is also highly estimable in the view of every philanthropic mind and greatly consolatory to that suffering part of the Community. These things will draw upon you the blessings of those who were nigh to perish. These works of charity and goodwill towards men reflect, in my estimation, great luster upon the Authors, and presage an æra of still farther improvements. How pitiful, in the eye of reason and religion, is that false ambition which desolates the world with fire and sword for the purposes of conquest and fame; when compared to the milder virtues of making our neighbors and our fellow men as happy as their frail conditions and perishable natures will permit them to be!

George Washington, To the German Lutherans of Philadelphia (April-May, 1789)

I could not however avoid apprehending that the partiality of my Countrymen in favor of the measures now pursued has led them to expect too much from the present Government; did not the same Providence which has been visible in every stage of our progress to this interesting crisis, from a combination of circumstances, give us cause to hope for the accomplishment of all our reasonable desires.

Thus partaking with you in the pleasing anticipation of the blessings of a wise and efficient government; I flatter myself that opportunities will not be wanting for me to shew my disposition to encourage the domestic and public virtues of Industry, Economy, Patriotism, Philanthropy, and that Righteousness which exalteth a Nation [Prov. 14:34].

So long as my Conduct shall merit the approbation of the Wise and the Good, I hope to hold the same place in your affections, which your friendly declarations induce me to believe I possess at present: and, amidst all the vicissitudes that may await me in this mutable existence, I shall earnestly desire the continuation of an interest in your intercessions at the Throne of Grace [Heb. 4:16].

George Washington, To the United Baptist Churches of Virginia (May, 1789)

After we had, by the smiles of Heaven on our exertions, obtained the object for which we contended, I retired at the conclusion of the war, with an idea that my country could have no farther occasion for my services, and with the intention of never entering again into public life: But when the exigence of my country seemed to require me once more to engage in public affairs, an honest conviction of duty superseded my former resolution, and became my apology for deviating from the happy plan which I had adopted.

If I could have entertained the slightest apprehension that the Constitution framed in the Convention, where I had the honor to preside, might possibly endanger the religious rights of any ecclesiastical Society, certainly I would never have placed my signature to it; and if I could now conceive that the general Government might ever be so administered as to render the liberty of conscience insecure, I beg you will be persuaded that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny, and every species of religious persecution—For you, doubtless, remember that I have often expressed my sentiment, that every man, conducting himself as a good citizen, and being accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in worshipping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience.

While I recollect with satisfaction that the religious society of which you are members have been, throughout America, uniformly, and almost unanimously, the firm friends to civil liberty, and the persevering promoters of our glorious revolution, I cannot hesitate to believe that they will be the faithful supporters of a free, yet efficient general government.

…I entertain a proper sense of your fervent supplications to God for my temporal and eternal happiness.

George Washington, To the Citizens of New York City (May 9, 1789)

Unelated by your too favorable appreciation of my past services, I can only pour forth the effusions of a grateful heart to Heaven, if I have been made, in any degree an instrument of good to my country—And, although I am far from claiming any merit for retiring in the manner I did from a military command to the shade of private life [Mic. 4:4].

George Washington, To the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church (May 29, 1789)

It shall still be my endeavor to manifest, by overt acts, the purity of my inclinations for promoting the happiness of mankind, as well as the sincerity of my desires to contribute whatever may be in my power towards the preservation of the civil and religious liberties of the American People. In pursuing this line of conduct, I hope, by the assistance of divine providence, not altogether to disappoint the confidence which you have been pleased to repose in me.

It always affords me satisfaction, when I find a concurrence in sentiment and practice between all conscientious men in acknowledgements of homage to the great Governor of the Universe, and in professions of support to a just civil government. After mentioning that I trust the people of every denomination, who demean themselves as good citizens, will have occasion to be convinced that I shall always strive to prove a faithful and impartial Patron of genuine, vital religion: I must assure you in particular that I take in the kindest part the promise you make of presenting your prayers at the Throne of Grace [Heb. 4:16] for me, and that I likewise implore the divine benedictions on yourselves and your religious community.

George Washington, To the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (May 30-June 5, 1789)

I receive with great sensibility the testimonial, given by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, of the live and unfeigned pleasure experienced by them on my appointment to the first office in the nation.

Although it will be my endeavor to avoid being elated by the too favorable opinion which your kindness for me may have induced you to express of the importance of my former conduct, and the effect of my future services: yet, conscious of the disinterestedness of my motive it is not necessary for me to conceal the satisfaction I have felt upon finding, that my compliance with the call of my country, and my dependence on the assistance of Heaven to support me in my arduous undertakings, have, so far as I can learn, met the universal approbation of my countrymen.

While I reiterate the possession of my dependence upon Heaven as the source of all public and private blessings; I will observe that the general prevalence of piety, philanthropy, honesty, industry and economy seems, in the ordinary course of human affairs are particularly necessary for advancing and confirming the happiness of our country. While all men within our territories are protected in worshipping the Deity according to the dictates of their consciences; it is rationally to be expected from them in return, that they will be emulous of evincing the sincerity of their profession by the innocence of their lives, and the beneficence of their actions: For no man, who is profligate in his morals, or a bad member of the civil community, can possibly be a true Christian, or a credit to his own religious society.

I desire you to accept my acknowledgements for your laudable endeavors to render men sober, honest, and good Citizens, and the obedient subjects of a lawful government; as well as for your prayers to Almighty God for his blessing on our common country and the humble instrument, which he has been pleased to make use of in the administration of its government.

George Washington, To the German Reformed Congregations (June, 1789)

I am happy in concurring with you in the sentiments of gratitude and piety towards Almighty-God, which are expressed with such fervency of devotion in your address…

At the same time, I return you my thanks for the manifestation of your firm purpose to support in your persons a government founded injustice and equity, and for the promise that it will be your constant study to impress the minds of the People entrusted to your care with a due sense of the necessity of uniting reverence to such a government and obedience to its laws with the duties and exercises of Religion.

May your devotions before the Throne of Grace be prevalent in calling down the blessings of Heaven upon yourselves and your country.

George Washington, To the Governor and Council of North Carolina (June 19, 1789)

Gratified by the favorable sentiments which are evinced in your address to me, and impressed with an idea that the Citizens of your State are sincerely attached to the Interest, the Prosperity and the Glory of America; I most earnestly implore the Divine benediction and guidance in the councils, which are shortly to be taken by their Delegates on a subject of the most momentous consequence, I mean, the political relation which is to subsist hereafter, between the State of North Carolina and the States now in Union under the new general Government.

George Washington, To the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives (July 9, 1789)

In executing the duties of my present important station I can promise nothing but purity of intentions—and in carrying these into effect, fidelity and diligence; if these, under the guidance of a superintending Providence, shall continue to me the approbation and affection of my fellow-citizens of the Union, it will be the highest gratification and the most ample reward that my mind can form any conception of in this life.

For the Benedictions you have been pleased to implore the Parent of the Universe on my person and family I have a grateful heart—and the most ardent wish that we may all, by rectitude of conduct and a perfect reliance on his beneficence, draw the smiles of Heaven on ourselves and posterity to the latest generation [Ps. 100:5, et al].

George Washington, To the Officials of Washington College (July 11, 1789)

A recollection of past events and the happy termination of our glorious struggle for the establishment of the rights of man cannot fail to inspire every feeling heart with veneration and gratitude towards the great Ruler of events, who has so manifestly interposed in our behalf.

I sincerely pray the great Author of the Universe may smile upon the Institution and make it an extensive blessing to this country.

George Washington, To the Moravian Society for Propagating the Gospel (August 15, 1789)

You will also be pleased to accept my thanks for the Treatise which you presented; and to be assured of my patronage in your laudable undertakings.

In proportion as the general Government of the United States shall acquire strength by duration, it is probable they may have it in their power to extend a salutary influence to the Aborigines in the extremities of their Territory. In the meantime, it will be a desirable thing for the protection of the Union to cooperate, as far as the circumstances may conveniently admit, with the disinterested endeavors of your society to civilize and Christianize the Savages of the Wilderness. Under these impressions, I pray Almighty God to have you always in his holy keeping.

George Washington, To the Protestant Episcopal Church (August 19, 1789)

On this occasion it would ill become me to conceal the joy I have felt in perceiving the fraternal affection which appears to increase every day among the friends of genuine religion—It affords edifying prospects indeed to see Christians of different denominations dwell together in more charity, and conduct themselves in respect to each other with a more Christian-like spirit than ever they have done in any former age, or in any other nation.

I receive with the greater satisfaction your congratulations on the establishment of the new constitution of government, because I believe its mild, yet efficient, operations will tend to remove every remaining apprehension of those with whose opinions it may not entirely coincide, as well as to confirm the hopes of its’ numerous friends; and because the moderation, patriotism, and wisdom of the present federal Legislature, seem to promise the restoration of Order, and our ancient virtues; the extension of genuine religion [Jas. 1:27], and the consequent advancement of our respectability abroad, and of our substantial happiness at home.

I request most reverend and respected Gentlemen that you will accept my cordial thanks for your devout supplications to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe in behalf of me—May you, and the People whom you represent be the happy subjects of the divine benedictions both here and hereafter.

George Washington, To Samuel Langdon (September 28, 1789)

The man must be bad indeed who can look upon the events of the American Revolution without feeling the warmest gratitude towards the great Author of the Universe whose divine interposition was so frequently manifested in our behalf—And it is my earnest prayer that we may so conduct ourselves as to merit a continuance of those blessings with which we have hitherto been favored.

George Washington, To Louis XVI (October 9, 1789)

Permit me to assure your Majesty of the unceasing Gratitude and Attachment of the United States, and of our Prayers, that the Almighty will be pleased to keep you, our great and beloved Friend and Ally, under his constant Guidance and Protection.

George Washington, To the Society of Quakers (October 13, 1789)

We have Reason to rejoice in the prospect that the present National Government, which by the favor of Divine Providence, was formed by the common Counsels, and peaceably established with the common consent of the People, will prove a blessing to every denomination of them. To render it such, my best endeavors shall not be wanting.

Government being, among other purposes, instituted to protect the Persons and Consciences of men from oppression, it certainly is the duty of Rulers, not only to abstain from it themselves, but according to their Stations, to prevent it in others.

The liberty enjoyed by the People of these States, of worshipping Almighty God agreeable to their Consciences, is not only among the choicest of their Blessings, but also of their Rights—While men perform their social Duties faithfully, they do all that Society or the State can with propriety demand or expect; and remain responsible only to their Maker for the Religion or modes of faith which they may prefer or profess.

I assure you very explicitly that in my opinion the Conscientious scruples of all men should be treated with great delicacy & tenderness, and it is my wish and desire that the Laws may always be as extensively accommodated to them, as a due regard to the Protection and essential Interests of the Nation may Justify, and permit.

George Washington, To the Congregational Ministers of New Haven (October 17, 1789)

The Kind congratulations, contained in your address, claim and receive my grateful and affectionate thanks—respecting, as I do, the favorable opinions of Men distinguished for science and piety, it would be false delicacy to disavow the satisfaction, which I derive from their approbation of my public services, and private conduct.

Regarding that deportment, which consists with true religion [Jas. 1:27], as the best security of temporal peace, and the sure mean of attaining eternal felicity, it will be my earnest endeavor (as far as human frailty can resolve) to inculcate the belief and practice of opinions, which lead to the consummation of those desirable objects.

If it shall please the Great Disposer of events to listen to the pious supplication, which you have preferred in my behalf, I trust that the remainder of my days will evince the gratitude of a heart devoted to the advancement of those objects, which receive the approbation of Heaven, and promote the happiness of our fellow men.

My best prayers are offered to the Throne of Grace [Heb. 4:16] for your happiness, and that of the Congregations committed to your care.

George Washington, To the Connecticut Legislature (October 17, 1789)

If the prosperity of our common country has in any degree been promoted by my military exertions, the toils which attended them have been amply rewarded by the approving voice of my fellow-citizens—I was but the humble Agent of favoring Heaven, whose benign interference was so often manifested in our behalf, and to whom the praise of victory alone is due.

I cannot forego this opportunity to felicitate the Legislature of Connecticut on the pleasing prospect which an abundant harvest presents to its citizens—May industry like theirs ever receive its reward, and may the smile of Heaven crown all endeavors which are prompted by virtue—among which it is justice to estimate your assurance of supporting our equal government.

George Washington, To the President and Fellows of Harvard University (October 27, 1789)

Unacquainted with the expression of sentiments which I do not feel, you will do me justice by believing confidently in my disposition to promote the interests of science and true religion [Jas. 1:27]

George Washington, To the Citizens of Marblehead (November 2, 1789)

Protected in the exercise of those means, which the beneficent Parent of mankind has furnished for their sustenance and comfort, the Citizens of America, animated by virtuous enterprise, and actuated by due obedience to the laws and regulations of their government, may expect with confidence, to enjoy every blessing which industry can promise, and national union may ensure.

Your anxiety for my health, and your prayers for my happiness are replied to with solicitude for your welfare, and an earnest entreaty to the Author of good for your felicity.

George Washington, To the Citizens of Portsmouth (November 2, 1789)

I fear the fond partiality of my countrymen has too highly appreciated my past exertions, and formed too sanguine anticipations of my future services—If the former have been successful, much of the success should be ascribed to those who labored with me in the common cause—and the glory of the event, should be given to the great Disposer of events.

I earnestly pray that the great Ruler of the Universe may smile upon your honest exertions here, and reward your well-doings with future happiness.

George Washington, To the Presbyterian Ministers of Massachusetts and New Hampshire (November 2, 1789)

To be approved by the praise-worthy is a wish as natural to becoming ambition, as its consequence is flattering to our self-love—I am, indeed, much indebted to the favorable sentiments which you entertain towards me, and it will be my study to deserve them.

The tribute of thanksgiving which you offer to “the gracious Father of lights” [Jas 1:17] for his inspiration of our public-councils with wisdom and firmness to complete the national constitution, is worthy of men, who, devoted to the pious purposes of religion, desire their accomplishment by such means as advance the temporal happiness of their fellow-men—and, here, I am persuaded, you will permit me to observe that the path of true piety is so plain as to require but little political direction. To this consideration we ought to ascribe the absence of any regulation, respecting religion, from the Magna-Charta of our country [the Constitution].

To the guidance of the ministers of the gospel this important object is, perhaps, more properly committed—It will be your care to instruct the ignorant, and to reclaim the devious—and, in the progress of morality and science, to which our government will give every furtherance, we may confidently expect the advancement of true religion, and the completion of our happiness.

I pray the munificent Rewarder of virtue that your agency in this good work may receive its compensation here and hereafter.

George Washington, To the Governor and Legislature of New Hampshire (November 3, 1789)

The success, which has hitherto attended our united efforts, we owe to the gracious interposition of Heaven, and to that interposition let us gratefully ascribe the praise of victory, and the blessings of peace.

George Washington, To the Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church in North America (November 19, 1789)

I fear, Gentlemen, your goodness has led you to form too exalted an opinion of my virtues and merits—If such talents as I possess have been called into action by great events, and those events have terminated happily for our country, the glory should be ascribed to the manifest interposition of an over-ruling Providence.

You, Gentlemen, act the part of pious Christians and good citizens by your prayers and exertions to preserve that harmony and good will towards men which must be the basis of every political establishment; and I readily join with you that “while just government protects all in their religious rights, true religion [Jas 1:27] affords to government its surest support.”

I beseech the Almighty to take you and yours under his special care.

George Washington, To the Maryland Legislature (January 20, 1790)

In noticing the eventful period, since the resignation of my military command; I trace, with infinite gratitude, the agency of a Providence, which induced the People of America to substitute in the place of an inadequate confederacy, a general Government, eminently calculated to secure the safety and welfare of their Country.

I pray for the Divine Benedictions on you, Gentlemen and on your State.

George Washington, To Roman Catholics in America (c. March 15, 1790)

While I now receive with much satisfaction your congratulations on my being called, by an unanimous vote, to the first station in my Country; I cannot but duly notice your politeness in offering an apology for the unavoidable delay. As that delay has given you an opportunity of realizing, instead of anticipating, the benefits of the general Government; you will do me the justice to believe, that your testimony of the increase of the public prosperity, enhances the pleasure which I should otherwise have experienced from your affectionate address.

I feel that my conduct, in war and in peace, has met with more general approbation than could reasonably have been expected: and I find myself disposed to consider that fortunate circumstance, in a great degree, resulting from the able support and extraordinary candor of my fellow-citizens of all denominations.

The prospect of national prosperity now before us is truly animating, and ought to excite the exertions of all good men to establish and secure the happiness of their Country, in the permanent duration of its Freedom and Independence. America, under the smiles of a Divine Providence—the protection of a good Government—and the cultivation of manners, morals and piety, cannot fail of attaining an uncommon degree of eminence, in literature, commerce, agriculture, improvements at home and respectability abroad.

As mankind become more liberal they will be more apt to allow, that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the Community are equally entitled to the protection of civil Government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations in examples of justice and liberality. And I presume that your fellow-citizens will not forget the patriotic part which you took in the accomplishment of their Revolution, and the establishment of their Government: or the important assistance which they received from a nation in which the Roman Catholic faith is professed.

I thank you, Gentlemen, for your kind concern for me. While my life and my health shall continue, in whatever situation I may he, it shall be my constant endeavor to justify the favorable sentiments which you are pleased to express of my conduct. And may the members of your Society in America, animated alone by the pure spirit of Christianity, and still conducting themselves as the faithful subjects of our free Government, enjoy every temporal and spiritual felicity.

George Washington, To the Georgia Legislature (March 18, 1790)

I am naturally led to reflect on the unlimited gratitude which we owe, as a nation, to the supreme Arbiter of human events for his interposition in our favor—as well as on the singular obligations which are due from me as an individual, for the indulgent sentiments which my fellow-citizens have always had the goodness to entertain of my conduct.

I am much pleased, Gentlemen, with the frankness which you have manifested in regard to myself—and return you my hearty thanks for the good wishes you have expressed for my health and happiness, with a sincere prayer that the same blessings may be extended to you and your constituents.

George Washington, To Louis IX (April 6, 1790)

We pray God to keep your Majesty under his holy Protection.

George Washington, To the Society of Free Quakers (c. April 8, 1790)

Having always considered the conscientious scruples of religious belief as resting entirely with the sects that profess, or the individuals who entertain them, I cannot, consistent with this uniform sentiment, otherwise notice the circumstances referred to in your address, than by adding the tribute of my acknowledgement, to that of our country, for those services which the members of your particular community rendered to the common cause in the course of our revolution—and by assuring you that, as our present government was instituted with an express view to general happiness, it will be my earnest endeavor, in discharging the duties confided to me with faithful impartiality, to realize the hope of common protection which you expect from the measures of that government.

Impressed with gratitude for your supplications to the supreme Being in my favor, I entreat his gracious beneficence in your behalf.

George Washington, To the Governor and Council of North Carolina (August 26, 1790)

May you and the State in whose government you have the principal agency, be also the peculiar care of divine providence.

George Washington, To the Virginia Legislature (April 27, 1790)

If I have been enabled to make use of whatever abilities Heaven has been pleased to confer upon me, with any advantage to our common Country, I consider it not less owing to the fostering encouragement I received in early life from the Citizens of the Commonwealth in which I was born, than to the persevering support I have since experienced from my fellow-Citizens collectively, in the course of their exertions, which, under Divine Providence, saved their Liberties and established their Independence.

In looking forward to that awful moment, when I must bid adieu to Sublunary Scenes, I anticipate the consolation of leaving our Country in a prosperous condition. And, while the curtain of separation shall be drawing, my last breath will, I trust, expire in a prayer for the temporal and eternal felicity of those, who have not only endeavored to gild the evening of my days with unclouded serenity, but extended their desires to my happiness hereafter in a brighter world.

George Washington, To the Savannah, GA Hebrew Congregation (June 14, 1790)

I rejoice that a spirit of liberality and philanthropy is much more prevalent than it formerly was among the enlightened nations of the earth; and that your brethren will benefit thereby in proportion as it shall become still more extensive. Happily the people of the United States of America have, in many instances, exhibited examples worthy of imitation—The salutary influence of which will doubtless extend much farther, if gratefully enjoying those blessings of peace which (under favor of Heaven) have been obtained by fortitude in war, they shall conduct themselves with reverence to the Deity, and charity towards their fellow-creatures.

May the same wonder-working Deity, who long since delivering the Hebrews from their Egyptian Oppressors planted them in the promised land—whose providential agency has lately been conspicuous in establishing these United States as an independent nation—still continue to water them with the dews of Heaven and to make the inhabitants of every denomination participate in the temporal and spiritual blessings of that people whose God is Jehovah.

George Washington, To the People of South Carolina (July 5, 1790)

Flattering as it may be to find the extraordinary unanimity of the People of the United States in placing me at the head of their federal Republic; I am still more pleased with a recollection of the manly conduct on their part, which in the issue of an arduous struggle, put them in a condition to enjoy the blessings of a free government. It was owing to their steady and strenuous support, with the smiles of a gracious providence, that I did not sink under the oppression I felt from a diffidence in my abilities to conduct their military operations.

I pray you to be persuaded, that, while I receive with great sensibility such repeated proofs of the partiality of my fellow-citizens in my favor, I feel increasing obligations to devote my labors unremittingly to the public service, and with the benediction of the great Father of the universe on our councils, to use my best endeavors that the American people who have of right assumed an independent station amongst the nations of the earth should forever remain a great, respectable, and happy nation.

George Washington, To the Convention of the Universal Church (August 9, 1790)

It gives me the most sensible pleasure to find, that, in our nation, however different are the sentiments of citizens on religious doctrines, they generally concur in one thing, for their political professions and practices are almost universally friendly to the order and happiness of our civil institutions—I am also happy in finding this disposition particularly evinced by your society. It is moreover my earnest desire, that all the members of every association or community, throughout the United States, may make such use of the auspicious years of Peace, liberty and free enquiry, with which they are now favored, as they shall hereafter find occasion to rejoice for having done.

I assure you, Gentlemen, that in mentioning my obligations for the effusions of your benevolent wishes on my behalf, I feel animated with new zeal, that my conduct may ever be worthy of your favorable opinion, as well as such as shall in every respect best comport with the character of an intelligent and accountable Being.

George Washington, To the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island (August 18, 1790)

The reflection on the days of difficulty and danger which are past is rendered the more sweet from a consciousness that they are succeeded by days of uncommon prosperity and security. If we have wisdom to make the best use of the advantages with which we are now favored, we cannot fail, under the just administration of a good Government, to become a great and a happy people.

The Citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy: a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.

It would be inconsistent with the frankness of my character not to avow that I am pleased with your favorable opinion of my Administration, and fervent wishes for my felicity. May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid. May the father of all mercies scatter light and not darkness in our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in his own due time and way everlastingly happy.

George Washington, To the Clergy of Newport, Rhode Island (August 18, 1790)

I am inexpressibly happy that by the smiles of divine Providence, my weak but honest endeavors to serve my country have hitherto been crowned with so much success, and apparently given such satisfaction to those in whose cause they were exerted. The same benignant influence, together with the concurrent support of all real friends to their country will still be necessary to enable me to be in any degree useful to this numerous and free People over whom I am called to preside.

Wherefore I return you, Gentlemen, my hearty thanks for your solemn invocation of Almighty God that every temporal and spiritual blessing [Jas. 1:17] may be dispensed to me, and that, under my administration, the families of these States may enjoy peace and prosperity, with all the blessings attendant on civil and religious liberty—In the participation of which blessings may you have an ample Share.

The Citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy: a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.

May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the goodwill of the other inhabitants while everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid [Mic. 4:4].

May the father of all mercies scatter light and not darkness in our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in his own due time and way everlastingly happy.

George Washington, To the Inhabitants of Providence, Rhode Island (August 19, 1790)

As, under the smiles of Heaven, America is indebted for Freedom and Independence, rather to the joint exertions of the Citizens of the several States; in which it may be your boast to have borne no inconsiderable share; than to the Conduct of her Commander in Chief, so is she indebted for their support, rather to a continuation of those exertions than to the Prudence and Ability manifested in the exercise of the powers delegated to the President of the United States.

I rejoice in having so favorable an opportunity of felicitating the State of Rhode Island on the co-operation I am sure to find in the measures adopted by the guardians of literature in this place, for improving the morals of the rising generation, and inculcating upon their minds principles peculiarly calculated for the preservation of our rights & liberties. You may rely on whatever protection I may be able to afford in so important an object, as the education of our Youth.

I will now conclude, Gentlemen, by expressing my acknowledgments for the tender manner in which you mention the restoration of my health on a late occasion; and with ardent wishes that Heaven may prosper the literary Institution under your care, in giving you the best of its blessings in this World, as well as in the world to come.

George Washington, To the Corporation of Rhode Island College (August 19, 1790)

While I cannot remain insensible to the indulgence with which you regard the influence of my example & the tenor of my conduct; I rejoice in having so favorable an opportunity of felicitating the State of Rhode Island on the co-operation I am sure to find in the measures adopted by the guardians of literature in this place, for improving the morals of the rising generation, and inculcating upon their minds principles peculiarly calculated for the preservation of our rights & liberties. You may rely on whatever protection I may be able to afford in so important an object, as the education of our Youth.

I will now conclude, Gentlemen, by expressing my acknowledgments for the tender manner in which you mention the restoration of my health on a late occasion; and with ardent wishes that Heaven may prosper the literary Institution under your care, in giving you the best of its blessings in this World, as well as in the world to come.

George Washington, To the Governor and Council of North Carolina (August 26, 1790)

I desire, Gentlemen, to make acceptable to you my acknowledgements for the kind concern you take in the restoration of my health and preservation of my life, and in the retribution I may receive after the conclusion of this mortal existence. May you and the State in whose government you have the principal agency, be also the peculiar care of divine providence.

George Washington, To Citizens of Elizabethtown, Maryland (October 20, 1790)

I offer sincere wishes for your temporal happiness and future felicity.

George Washington, To the Hebrew Congregations of Philadelphia, New York, Charleston, and Richmond (December 13, 1790)

The liberality of sentiment toward each other which marks every political and religious denomination of men in this Country, stands unparalleled in the history of Nations. The affection of such people is a treasure beyond the reach of calculation; and the repeated proofs which my fellow Citizens have given of their attachment to me, and approbation of my doings form the purest source of my temporal felicity. The affectionate expressions of your address again excite my gratitude, and receive my warmest acknowledgments.

The Power and Goodness of the Almighty were strongly Manifested in the events of our late glorious revolution; and his kind interposition in our behalf has been no less visible in the establishment of our present equal government. In war he directed the Sword; and in peace he has ruled in our Councils. My agency in both has been guided by the best intentions, and a sense of the duty which I owe my Country: and as my exertions have hitherto been amply rewarded by the Approbation of my fellow Citizens, I shall endeavor to deserve a continuance of it by my future conduct.

May the same temporal and eternal blessings which you implore for me, rest upon your Congregations.

George Washington, To Louis XVI (March 2, 1791)

I renew sincere assurances of the friendship and affection which I bear to your Majesty and your Nation, and I pray God to have you, very great and good friend and Ally, in his holy keeping.

George Washington, To the Emperor or Morocco (March 31, 1791)

May that God, whom we both adore, bless your Imperial Majesty with long life, Health, and Success, and have you always, great and magnanimous Friend, under his holy keeping.

If to my agency in the affairs of our common-country may be ascribed any of the great advantages, which it now enjoys, I am amply and most agreeably rewarded in contemplating the happiness, and receiving the approbation of my fellow-citizens, whose freedom and felicity are fixed, I trust forever, on an undecaying basis of wisdom and virtue.

George Washington, To the Officials and Citizens of Richmond (April 12, 1791)

Among the blessings which a gracious Providence may be pleased to bestow on the people of America, I shall behold with peculiar pleasure the prosperity of your city, and the individual happiness of its inhabitants.

George Washington, To the Inhabitants of New Bern, North Carolina (April 20-21, 1791)

A bountiful providence has blessed us with all the means of national and domestic happiness—To our own virtue and wisdom are referred their improvement and realization.

George Washington, To Samuel Vaughan (August 25, 1791)

[E]very heart must be impressed with lively gratitude towards the supreme Ruler of events upon a recollection of the circumstances which have brought us to our present political situation.

George Washington, To Henry Knox (September 8, 1791)

Parental feelings are too much alive in the moment of these misfortunes to admit the consolations of religion or philosophy; but I am persuaded reason will call one or both of them to your aid as soon as the keenness of your anguish is abated.

He that gave you know has a right to take away [Job 1:21]—his ways are wise—they are inscrutable, and irresistible.

George Washington, To the United States Senate and House of Representatives (October 25, 1791)

Numerous as are the Providential blessings which demand our grateful acknowledgments—the abundance with which another year has again rewarded the industry of the Husbandman, is too important to escape recollection.

A System corresponding with the mild principles of religion and philanthropy towards an unenlightened race of men, whose happiness materially depends on the conduct of the United States, would be as honorable to the national character as conformable to the dictates of sound policy.

The safety of the United States, under Divine protection, ought to rest on the basis of systematic and solid arrangements; exposed as little as possible to the hazards of fortuitous circumstances.

George Washington, To Mary Butler (January 6, 1792)

I sincerely hope that you will under the present pressure of your affliction experience all the powerful consolation of Religion and Philosophy.

George Washington, To John Carroll (April 10, 1792)

I have received, and duly considered your memorial of the 20^th ultimo, on the subject of instructing the Indians, within and contiguous to the United States, in the principles and duties of Christianity…

Impressed as I am with an opinion, that the most effectual means of securing the permanent attachment of our savage neighbors is to convince them that we are just, and to shew them that a proper and friendly intercourse with us would be for our mutual advantage, I cannot conclude without giving you my thanks for your pious and benevolent wishes to effect this desirable end upon the mild principles of Religion and Philanthropy. And when a proper occasion shall offer I have no doubt but such measures will be pursued as may seem best calculated to communicate liberal instruction & the blessings of society to their untutored minds.

George Washington, Message to the Five Nations (April 25, 1792)

Our Lives are all in the hands of our Maker, and we must part with them whenever he shall demand them, and the survivors must submit to events they cannot prevent.

George Washington, To Edward Newnham (October 20, 1792)

Of all the animosities which have existed among mankind those which are caused by a difference of sentiment in Religion appear to be the most inveterate and distressing and ought most to be deprecated. I was in hopes that the enlightened and liberal policy which has marked the present age would at least have reconciled Christians of every denomination so far that we should never again see their religious disputes carried to such a pitch as to endanger the peace of Society.

George Washington, To the Members of the New Jerusalem Church of Baltimore (January 27, 1793)

But to the manifest interposition of an over-ruling Providence, and to the patriotic exertions of united America, are to be ascribed those events which have given us a respectable rank among the nations of the Earth.

We have abundant reason to rejoice, that in this land the light of truth and reason have triumphed over the power of bigotry and superstition, and that every person may here worship God according to the dictates of his own heart. In this enlightened age and in this land of equal liberty, it is our boast, that a man’s religious tenets will not forfeit the protection of the laws, nor deprive him of the right of attaining and holding the highest offices that are known in the United States.

Your prayers for my present and future felicity are received with gratitude; and I sincerely wish, Gentlemen, that you may, in your social and individual capacities, taste those blessings which a gracious God bestows upon the righteous.

George Washington, To the Citizens of Richmond, Virginia (August 28, 1793)

True to our duties and interests as Americans—firm to our purpose as lovers of peace—let us unite our fervent prayers to the great ruler of the Universe, that the justice & moderation of all concerned may permit us to continue in the uninterrupted enjoyment of a blessing, which we so greatly prize, and of which we ardently wish them a speedy & permanent participation.

George Washington, To the Citizens of New London, Connecticut (September 2, 1793)

Experienced as we have lately been in the calamities of war, it must be the prayer of every good Citizen that it may long be averted from our land, and that the blessings which a kind providence has bestowed upon us, may continue uninterrupted.

George Washington, To the Germantown, Pennsylvania School Trustees (November 6, 1793)

Where it will be best for Congress to remain will depend on circumstances which are daily unfolding themselves, and for the issue of which, we can but offer up our prayers to the Sovereign Dispenser of life and health. His favor too on our endeavors—the good sense and firmness of our fellow citizens, and fidelity in those they employ, will secure to us a permanence of good government.

George Washington, To the Citizens of Carlisle, Pennsylvania (October 6, 1794)

When we look round and behold the universally acknowledged prosperity which blesses every part of the United States facts no less unequivocal than those which are the lamented occasion of our present meeting, were necessary to persuade us; that any portion of our fellow Citizens could be so deficient in discernment or virtue, as to attempt to disturb a situation which, instead of murmurs and tumults, calls [for our] warmest gratitude to Heaven, and our earnest endeavors to preserve and prolong so favored a lot.

George Washington, To the Emperor of Morocco (December 31, 1794)

May that God, whom we both adore, bless your Imperial Majesty with long life, health, and success, and have you always, great and magnanimous Friend, under his holy keeping.

George Washington, To Tobias Lear (March 30, 1796)

It is the nature of humanity to mourn for the loss of our friends; and the more we loved them, the more poignant is our grief. It is part of the precepts of religion and Philosophy, to consider the Dispensations of Providence as wise, immutable, uncontrollable; of course, that it is our duty to submit with as little repining, as the sensibility of our natures is capable of, to all its decrees. But nature will, notwithstanding, indulge, for a while, its sorrows.

To say how much we loved, and esteemed our departed friend, is unnecessary—She is now no more! but she must be happy, because her virtue has a claim to it.

As you talked of coming to this place on business, let us press you to do so. The same room that serves Mr. Dandridge and Washington is large enough to receive a Bed also for you; and it is needless to add, we shall be glad of your company. The change may be serviceable to you; and if our wishes were of any avail, they would induce you to make your stay here as long as your convenience would permit.

At all times, and under all circumstances, we are, and ever shall remain, Your sincere and Affectionate friends.

George Washington, To the Batavian Republic National Assembly (February 17, 1797)

I pray God to have you, Great and good friends, in his holy keeping.

George Washington, To the Pennsylvania Legislature (February 17, 1797)

Though now seeking that repose which retirement and the tranquil pursuit of rural affairs are calculated to afford, and which my time of life requires, the love of my country will indeed suffer no abatement: its safety and prosperity will be essential to the enjoyment of my remaining years. And I confide in [the] discernment and patriotism of my fellow-citizens for the choice of wise and virtuous men who will successively administer every branch of the government in such manner as, under divine Providence, to enforce the general happiness.

George Washington, To the Batavian Republic National Assembly (March 2, 1797)

I pray God to have you, Great and good friends, in his holy keeping.

George Washington, To Henry Knox (March 2, 1797)

From the friendship I have always borne you—and from the interest I have ever taken in whatever relates to your prosperity and happiness, I participated in the sorrows which I know you must have felt for your late heavy losses. But it is not for man to scan the wisdom of Providence. The best he can do, is to submit to its decrees. Reason, Religion and Philosophy teaches us to do this, but ’tis time alone that can ameliorate the pangs of humanity, and soften its woes.

Although the prospect of retirement is most grateful to my soul, and I have not a wish to mix again in the great world, or to partake in its politics, yet, I am not without my regrets at parting with (perhaps never more to meet) the few intimates who I love, among these be assured you are one.

On the subject of politics I shall say nothing; you will have an opportunity of seeing and conversing with many of the legislators from whom, so far as it relates to the proceedings of their own body [Congress] they can give you the details. The Gazettes [newspapers] will furnish the rest.

George Washington, To William White (March 3, 1797)

Believing, as I do, that Religion & Morality are the essential pillars of Civic society, I view, with unspeakable pleasure, that harmony and Brotherly love which characterizes the Clergy of different denominations—as well in this, as in other parts of the United States: exhibiting to the world a new and interesting spectacle, at once the pride of our Country and the surest basis of universal Harmony.

George Washington, To John Adams (September 25, 1798)

With respect to General Knox, I can say with truth, there is no man in the United States with whom I have been in habits of greater intimacy—no one whom I have loved more sincerely—nor any for whom I have had a greater friendship. But, esteem, love and friendship, can have no influence on my mind when I conceive that the subjugation of our Government and Independence, are the objects aimed at by the enemies of our Peace—and when, possibly, our all is at stake.

George Washington, To William White (May 30, 1799)

The Sermon on the duty of Civil obedience as required in Scripture, which you had the goodness to send me, came safe a Post or two ago; and for which I pray you to accept my grateful acknowledgments.

The hurry in which it found me engaged, in a matter that pressed, has not allowed me time to give it a perusal yet: but I anticipate the pleasure & edification I shall find when it is in my power to do it.

Diary

George Washington, Diary (April 16, 1789)

About ten o’clock I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and to domestic felicity; and with a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful sensations than I have words to express, set out for New York in company with Mr. Thompson, and colonel Humphries, with the best dispositions to render service to my country in obedience to its call, but with less hope of answering its expectations.

Reflections on Washington

Henry Lee, Eulogy on President Washington (December 265, 1799)⁶

Commencing his administration, what heart is not charmed with the recollection of the pure and wise principles announced by himself, as the basis of his political life. He best understood the indissoluble union between virtue and happiness, between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and individual felicity; watching with an equal and comprehensive eye over this great assemblage of communities and interests, he laid the foundations of our national policy in the unerring immutable principles of morality, based on religion, exemplifying the pre-eminence of free 16 | 17 government, by all the attributes which win the affections of its citizens or command the respect of the world.

John Marshall, The Life of George Washington (1832)⁷

Without making ostentatious professions of religion, he was a sincere believer in the Christian faith, and a truly devout man.

Footnotes

1. George Washington, John Rhodehamel, ed., Washington: Writings (New York: The Library of America, 1997), 351. ↩︎
2. George Washington, John Rhodehamel, ed., Washington: Writings (New York: The Library of America, 1997), 516-18, 521, 522, 524, 526. ↩︎
3. George Washington, John Rhodehamel, ed., Washington: Writings (New York: The Library of America, 1997), 542-44, 545, 546. ↩︎
4. George Washington, John Rhodehamel, ed., Washington: Writings (New York: The Library of America, 1997), 108. ↩︎
5. George Washington, John Rhodehamel, ed., Washington: Writings (New York: The Library of America, 1997), 144. ↩︎
6. Ted Widmer, ed., American Speeches: Political Oratory from Patrick Henry to Barack Obama (New York: Library of America Paperback Classics, 2011), 16-17. ↩︎
7. John Marshall, The Life of George Washington (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2000), 466. ↩︎