4 1662 Book of Common Prayer.
5 WGW, vol. 29, 4-28-1788.
6 Ibid., vol. 11, 3-1-1778.
7 Ibid., vol. 35, 3-30-1796.
8 Ibid., vol. 36, 2-27-1798.
9 Ibid., vol. 36, 8-15-1798.
10 Varnum Lansing Collins, President Witherspoon (New York: Arno Press and The New York Times, 1969), I:197-98.
11 WGW, vol. 26, Circular to the States.
12 Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, vol. 3 p. 488.
13 WGW, vol. 30, Thanksgiving Proclamation.
14 Ibid., vol. 34, Sixth Annual Address to Congress.
15 Ibid., vol. 35, 3-3-1797.
16 Ibid., vol. 30, Proposed Address to Congress. Paul Boller co-wrote a book in 1989 entitled They Never Said It and there he included this quote. The facts are this: It is true that Washington did not use this lengthy speech that he had written. He may have used various sources along with his own text to compose it. But it is undeniable that he wrote it in his own hand, and the text is in the Washington Papers. Thus it is truly his writing. For him to have anticipated using it for his speech shows that it was well within his personal understanding of what he believed. So he may never have “said it,” but he in fact “wrote it,” which is all that matters for our purposes. Thus the fact that Joseph J. Ellis refers to this proposed speech, but he does not include the text, does not minimize or negate the force of these words that Washington wrote and contemplated sending to Congress.
17 WGW, vol. 29, 4-25-1788.
18 Ibid., vol. 26, Circular to the States.
19 Ibid., vol. 7, 1-22-1777.
20 Ibid., vol. 12, 8-20-1778.
21 Ibid., vol. 35, 11-28-1796.
22 Ibid., vol. 36, 7-25-1798.
23 Rhodehamel, George Washington: Writings, p. 944.
24 WGW, vol. 10, 1-29-1778. To the Committee of Congress.
25 See Chapter 30. For instance, Christmas in 1769 fell on Monday. Washington’s diary entry for Christmas Sunday, December 24, says, “Went to Prayers, and dined afterwards at Colo. Lewis.
26 Here are the scripture passages George Washington and the other worshipers heard during the Christmas service. These passages come from the Anglican Church’s Book of Common Prayer (1662):
“The Nativity of our Lord, or the Birth-day of Christ, Commonly called Christmas-Day.
The Epistle. Heb. 1. 1.
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high: Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
The Gospel. St. John. 1. 1.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
27 Jackson, Twohig, Diaries of George Washington, December 25, 1770
28 One of Washington’s important victories, i.e., important for morale, was the Battle of Trenton, fought on Christmas day 1776.
29 Rhodehamel, George Washington: Writings, p. 526.
30 WGW, vol. 35, December 19, 1796.
31 Ibid., vol. 37, January 20, 1799.
32 Ibid., vol. 37, April 25, 1799.
33 See the chapters on “Did Washington Avoid the Name of Jesus Christ?,” “Washington and the Bible,” and the appendix of Washington’s Biblical Allusions.
34 The Book of Common Prayer
35 Jackson, Twohig, Diaries of George Washington 1768, Easter fell on April 3.
36 GWP: Series 1a. George Washington, School Copy Book: Volume 1, 1745 Images 50-54.
37 WGW, vol. 17, general Orders, November 27, 1779.
38 Jackson, Twohig, Diaries of George Washington, June 2, 1754.
