24 This phrase comes from one of the earliest publications on the life of Washington, by the Reverend Dr. Jedidiah Morse, a clergyman-scholar and correspondent of Washington. At the end of his thirty-three long page summary of General Washington’s life, based upon the anonymously written and approved life of Washington by David Humphreys, we find the following poem, which probably came from the pen of Humphreys as well.
GENERAL WASHINGTON
GREAT without pomp, without ambition brave—
Proud, not to conquer fellow men, but save—
Friend to the weak—a foe to none but those,
Who plan their greatness on their brethren’s woes—
Aw’d by no titles—undefil’d by lust—
Free without faction, obstinately just—
Too wise to learn, form Machiavel’s school,
That truth and perfidy by turns should rule.
Warm’d by Religion’s sacred, genuine ray,
Which points to future bliss, th’ unerring way;
Yet ne’er controul’d by Superstition’s laws,
The worst of tyrants in the noblest cause..
Jedidiah Morse (1761-1836), The Life of Gen. Washington (Philadelphia: Jones, Hoff & Derrick, 1794).
25 America, the custodian of Washington’s “sacred fire of liberty,” has learned to sing of the “sacred fire” in terms of “freedom’s holy light.” These words come from the patriotic hymn, “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” written by Samuel Francis Smith (1808-1895). A graduate of Harvard and a Baptist pastor, with interest in the American Baptist Missionary Union, Smith wrote the words in less than a half hour at the age of twenty-three, while in seminary. The occasion was a children’s celebration held in a Boston church on July 4t, 1832, the hundredth anniversary year of the birth of Washington. The melody is identical to the British national anthem, “God Save the King” making the last line “Great God our King” a rekindling of the spirit of ’76 that blazed in Washington’s Patriot Army. The first and last stanzas are:
My country ‘tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing:
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrim’s pride,
From ev’ry mountain side
Let freedom ring!
Our fathers’ God, to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing:
Long may our land be bright
With Freedom’s holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King!
26 William J. Federer, remarks in D. James Kennedy’s, One Nation Under God (Ft. Lauderdale: Coral Ridge Ministries, 2005), a video.
27 WGW, vol. 29, 4-25-1788.
28 Ibid., vol. 30, 8-31-1788.
CHAPTER 25
1 WGW, vol. 31, 8-17-1790. To the master, wardens, and brethren of King David’s Lodge of Masons in Newport.
2 John Warwick Montgomery, The Shaping of America (Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship, Inc., 1976), p. 54 and p. 56.
3 WGW, vol. 35, 4-24-1797. To THE GRAND LODGE OF ANCIENT, FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, “Brothers: In that retirement which declining years induced me to seek, and which repose, to a mind long employed in public concerns, rendered necessary, my wishes that bounteous Providence will continue to bless and preserve our country in Peace, and in the prosperity it has enjoyed, will be warm and sincere; And my attachment to the Society of which we are members will dispose me, always, to contribute my best endeavours to promote the honor and interest of the Craft. For the Prayer you offer in my behalf I entreat you to accept the thanks of a grateful heart; with the assurance of fraternal regard and best wishes for the honor, happiness and prosperity of all the Members of the Grand-lodge of Massachusetts.”
Ibid., vol. 35, 4-1-1797. To THE BROTHERS OF ANCIENT YORK MASONS OF LODGE NO. 22 (Alexandria, Va.) “While my heart acknowledges with Brotherly Love, your affectionate congratulations on my retirement from the arduous toils of past years, my gratitude is no less excited by your kind wishes for my future happiness.
If it has pleased the Supreme Architect of the Universe to make me an humble instrument to promote the welfare and happiness of my fellow men, my exertions have been abundantly recompensed by the kind partiality with which they have been received; and the assurance you give me of your belief that I have acted upon the Square in my public Capacity, will be among my principle enjoyments in this Terrestial Lodge.”
Ibid., vol. 35, 11-8-1798, To THE MARYLAND GRAND LODGE OF FREE MASONS
“Gentlemen and Brothers: Your obliging and affectionate letter, together with a Copy of the constitutions of Masonry, has been put into my hands by your Grand Master; for which I pray you to accept my best thanks.
So far as I am acquainted with the principles and doctrines of Free Masonry, I conceive it to be founded in benevolence, and to be exercised only for the good of Mankind; I cannot, therefore, upon this ground, withhold my approbation of it.” Ibid., vol. 24, 8-10-1782 To WATSON & CASSOUL, “Gentn: The Masonick Ornaments which accompanied your Brotherly Address of the 23d. of the first Month, tho’ elegant in themselves, were rendered more valuable by the flattering sentiments, and affectionate manner, in which they were offered. If my endeavours to avert the evil, with which this Country was threatened, by a deliberate plan of Tyranny, should be crowned with the success that is wished; the praise is due to the Grand Architect of the Universe; who did not see fit to Suffer his Superstructures, and justice, to be subjected to the ambition of the princes of this World, or to the rod of oppression, in the hands of any power upon Earth. For your affectionate Vows, permit me to be grateful; and offer mine for true Brothers in all parts of the World; and to assure you of the sincerity with which I am etc.”
4 Paul Johnson, George Washington: The Founding Father (HarperCollins Publishers, 2005), p. 11.
5 Randall, George Washington: A Life, p. 67.
6 Boller, George Washington & Religion, pp. 111-112.
7 Albert G. Mackey, M. D., The Encyclopedia of Free Masonry (Philadelphia: McClure Publishing Co., 1917), pp. 9-10 says, “The acacia, which, in Scripture, is always called Shittah, and in the plural Shittim, was esteemed a sacred wood among the Hebrews. Of it Moses was ordered to make a tabernacle, the ark of the covenant, the table for the shewbread, and the rest of the sacred furniture....the acacia, in the mythic system of Freemasonry, is preeminently the symbol of the IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL—that important doctrine which it is the great design of the Institution to teach.”
8 For Washington’s Masonic Sermon Collection see Lane, Washington Collection of the Boston Athenaeum, p. 132.
9 In Washington’s Masonic Sermon collection were sermons preached by some of the great clergymen of the day, such as Reverend Samuel Miller, one of the leading Presbyterian preachers.
A
DISCOURSE
