1997 issue 2 - history study: the father of our country, george washington - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 1997 Issue 2 - History Study: The Father of Our Country, George Washington - Counsel of Chalcedon

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y

Rev Steve M I i I J j ~ ; H J ;

THE F THER OF OUR

COUNTRY

The problems

which

Qeorge Washington

overcame during the War of

Independence

are truly

incredible and ought

not to

be

forgotten.

Washington

was highly

esteemed

in this

nation for good reason.

He had to

depend upon

volunteers (since the

Congress had no power to

draft)

and

there

were

veJ)l

few at the beginning willing

to volunteer

(upwards

of

40%

of

the

population

was

pro-British).

Those

who

did

volunteer were

poorly

trained (if trained at all) and

would frequently desert

because

of the conditions

that existed.

For this reason,

:,:':

j

Washington had

to

fight

with an army of between

3,000

and

15,000 men

who

were poorly supplied and

often

in

desperate

straits,

against the well supplied

British troops

which

numbered

well

over

60,000.

Though many have

sought to malign

Washington, he appears

to

be a sincere Christian. His

mother was often

to

remind

him, Remember that Qod

only

is

our

sure

trust. To

Him, I

commend you.

My

son,

neglect not the duty

of

secret

prayer.

The

prayers

written when

he

was a

young

man

of

twenty show

that he

took

her

exhortation

to heart:

Let

my heart, therefore,

gracious

Qod, be so affected

with the

gloJ)l

and majesty

of (Thine

honor)

that Imay .

not do mine own works, but

wait on Thee, and

discharge

those weighty duties which

Thou

requirest of me

o Qod, who art

rich

in

mercy and plenteous in

redemption,

mark

not, I

beseech Thee, what I have

done amiss; remember

that I

am but

dust,

and remit my

transgressions, negligences

and ignorances, and cover

them

all

with the

absolute

obedience of Thy dear

Son,

.

that those

sacrifices

(of praise

and thanksgiving) which I

have offered may be

accepted

by Thee, in and for

the

sacrifice of Jesus

Christ

offered

upon

the Cross for

m

Thou gavest Thy

Son

to

die for

me; and hast given

me assurance of salvation,

upon

my repentance

and

sincerely

endeavoring

to

conform my life to His holy

precepts and example:

(Prayers from Washington s

manuscript

which he

entitled Daily Sacrifice)

When Washington

took

cQmmand of

the colonial

forces, he

was

shocked

at

their condition. Not only

were they

poorly

supplied,

they Were

as

poor a fighting

force as almost was ever

February, 1997 I THE COUNSEL

of

Chaltedon I 17


2/3

assembled, undisciplined,

Patriotism, who

should

untrained, nQ

respect for

labour

to

subvert

these

great

authority,

and almost no Pillars

of

human happiness

officers

who

could

c o m m a n ~ .

Let

it

simply

be

asked

authority.

After , where

is

the

security for

Washington

took charge

the , property,fot reputation,

for

changes

he brought

were

as

, '

life,

if

the

sense

of

religious

dramatic as

they

were

rapid.

obligation desert the oaths,

The day after he

took

.which

are

the instruments

of

command, this

order was

investigation in Courts

of

issued:

JusticelAnd

let us

with

The,

Cieneral,

,most .

caution

indulge the

earnestly requires and

supposition,

that

morality

expects

a ,due

observance of can

be maintained without

those

articles

of war

religion.

Whatever may be

established

for

the '

conceded to

the

influence

of

government of

the

army,

which

forbid

profane

cursing,

swearing and

drunkenness. And

in like

m ~ n n e r he

requires

and .

expects

of

all officers and

soldiers not engaged iJl

actual duty, a punctual

attendance

of

Divine

services, to

implore

.the

blessing of Heaven

upon

the .

means

used for

our safety

'

and defense: (Ibid., p.289J.

.

, .

His concern

for the

.

efined

education

on

minds

of peculiar

structure,

reason

and

experience both forbid

us to expect

that National

morality canprevail

in

exclusion

ofreligious .

principle: Washington: A

CoUection,p: 51)

~ i s

integrity, general

fortItude, and raw courage

inspired his

men and almost

singlehandedly

he can

be

credited

for

keeping an army

on

the

field. These

traits

maintenance

of

Christianity w ~ r e d e m o n s t r a t e d early on

WilS frequently expressed,

"

in

his

career: During

the

but

no

where

perhaps more

.,

Battle of the'

Monongahela, .

fully than

in

his

Farewell in

the

French

and Indian

Address:

w ll

e

had

t h r ~

horses

"Of

all

the

dispositions

and

habits which lead

to

political

prosperity, ReligioH and

morality are

indispensable

'

supports. In

vain would that

man

claim

the

tribute of

shot

from

under

him

and

bullets

had

pierced

almost

every

item of his clothing,

yet, he

himself

emerged

"

without a wound. And

his

'

action th(j.t day h a ~ , ,

18 l

THE COUNSEL of h ~ l c e d o i l i February,

1997

.

astonished the

old

soldiers

present, who agreed with

the

young Colonel

when he

acknowledged

the

miraculous care

of

Providence that protected

me

beyond

'

all

human

expectation.

(M. E. Bradford,

A Worthy Company,

p.

133)

It

was this that

inspired

the confidence

of

his men

and united

into

an

effective

fighting

force. Washington

loved

his men

as much as

they

loved him.

In

his

farewell to

his officers

in

New

York after

the

War,

Washington couldbare/y

speak

and, choking

back

tears, embraced

them

all,

one

by

one.

Washington's phySical

appearance

and bearing

added

as

much

to

his

authority

as his commission

from the

Continental

.

Congress:

Tall and powerfully

built,

the best

horseman

of his

age,

and

the most graceful figure

that

could be seen on

horseback, as

Jefferson

put

it,

Washington

was readily

recognized as

the

commander in

chiH by

soldiers

who

had

never seen

him before; and it is striking

how

ofteri monarchical

.

imagery was u s ~ d

n

. o n ~ e m p o r a r y

physical


3/3

descriptions of

him.

An

Englishman said that there

was not a

king

in Europe

but would look like a valet

de

chambre by his

side.

And

when Abigail

Adams,

by

then a veteran

of

receptions

at st.

Jamess,

finally met

him in 1789, she was

almost moonstruck, gushing

that he moved with a

grace,

dignity, and

ease that

leaves

Royal

(jeorge

far behind

him.

McDonald,

op.

cit., p.

the conclusion

of the debate,

the question for adjournment

was called

for. At this the

(jeneral arose from his seat

and addressed the assembly,

(jentlemen Iam sorry to

find

that

some one

member

of

this

body

has

been so

neglectful of the secrets of

the Convention as to drop in

the State House a copy of

their proceedings, which by

accident was picked up and

delivered

to

me

this

found

t to be

in the

handwriting of another

person.

When I went

to

my

lodgings

at the Indian

Queen, I

found

my copy in

a coat pocket which I had

pulled

off

that morning.

It

is

something remarkable that

no one ever owned the

paper.

Bowen,

op. cit.,

pp.

98-99)

Though his enemies, and

he had many, sought

to

undennine his reputation by

192)

r , - , - ~ - - - - -

-- ,,,--=- -,

spreading rumors about

Prominent

men

were

more

than

once abashed

,:

d

irstin

war

irstin

~ ~ ;

; a ~ i ~ b i a s e d

upeace andfirst n t ~ e contemporaries as

the

(,"hei,lrtsofhisl.:ountrY7.... greatest

leader

this

in his presence.

Robert

Morris,

delegate

to the

Convention from

Pennsylvania, once

commented that

Washington was the only

man in whose presence he

felt

any awe.

Bowen,

op.

cit., p.

194)

Even though

the titles of

monarchy

were

studiously avoided in this

country, Washington, after

he

became

President, was

generally

addressed as His

Highness the

President.

Ibid.)

Once

during the

Constitutional convention

one

of

the

delegates

dropped

a

paper

on the floor. It was

picked up and handed to

Washington the next

morning. This

constituted

il

serious breech of the ruJes of

secrecy that had been

established. Thenext day, at

morning. I

must

entreat

gentlemen

to be

more

careful,

lest our

transactions

get

into the

newspapers and

disturb the public repose by

premature speculations.

I

know not whose paper

it

is,

but

there

it is

[throwing it

down on the table], let him

who owns

it take

it.

William Pierce of

(jeorgia

gives

this account

and says, At the same time

he bowed,

picked

up his hat

and quitted the room with a

dignity

so

severe

that

every

person seemed alanned; for

my

part I was extremely so,

for putting my hand in my

pocket Imissed my

copy

of

the same paper, but

advancing up to the table

my

fears

soon

dissipated;

I

nation ever had.

When Washington died, his

good friend and fellow

soldier, Lighthorse Harry

Lee

the

father of Robert E

Lee), wrote a eulogy for the

House of Representatives

and delivered it for the entire

Congress in the (jennan

Lutheran

Church

of

Philadelphia

on December

26, 1799.

In

the eulogy he

described his commander as

first in war, first in

peace,

and first in the hearts of

his

countrymen.

Bradford,

Against the Barbarians,

p.

123) The traditional title,

Father of our country, is not

undeserved and only the

slightest

of

exaggerations.

TO BE CONTINVED)

February, 1997 t THE COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon t

19

1997 issue 2 - history study: the father of our country, george washington - counsel of chalcedon

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