66 Washington rarely gave this glowing phrase, “read with pleasure.” On the 19 instances when he did, it was always with an implied or expressed approval. This included sermons, books on history, and books on agriculture. See Lane, Catalogue of the Washington Collection, pp. 90-91,: “Account of the Origin of the Board of Agriculture, and its Progress for three Years after its Establishment. By the President. (London, 1796), and “Agricultural survey of the Counties of Great Britain; William Heath, Memoirs of Major-General Heath. (Boston, 1798), Lane, Washington Collection, Boston Athenaeum, p. 99. For other examples, see Ibid., pp. 105, 126, 137, 146, 169.
67 See the chapter on “George Washington and Prayer.” See WGW, vol. 36, To REVEREND WILLIAM LYNN, June 4, 1798. “Revd. Sir: I received with thankfulness your favour of the 30th. Ulto., enclosing the discourse delivered by you on the day recommended by the President of the United States to be observed as a general Fast. I have read them both with pleasure; and feel grateful for the favourable sentiments you have been pleased to express in my behalf; but more especially for those good wishes which you offer for my temporal and eternal happiness; which I reciprocate with great cordiality, being with esteem and respect....”
68 Ibid, p. 78.
69 Ibid, p. 78.
70 WGW Note: “Of Newton, Sussex County, N. J. He was elected Protestant Episcopal Bishop of New Jersey in 1798, but consecration was refused him in 1799; later he became a Presbyterian. The sermon was “A sermon on practical religion. Inscribed to Christians of every denomination. No. I. (Chatham: Printed by Shepard Kollock).” Copies of nos. II and III are in the Washington Collection in the Boston Athenaeum.”
71 This sermon was delivered in the evening, and spoken extemporaneously. A few weeks after its delivery it was committed to writing and as nearly verbatim as the author’s memory would serve. The sermon in its fuller form:
In all the compass of language, there is not, perhaps, a word that speaks greater terror, more dread to the impious sons of jollity and mirth, than death. How doth it damp every evil joy, embitter the impure draught of sensual pleasure, and fill the wicked with dreadful forebodings of what shall be hereafter!
As disagreeable as the subject of death is to the ungodly, it is the duty of the sincerest, best friends, the faithful ministers of the gospel, frequently to dwell upon it; to remind of it’s certainty; it’s necessary preparation, it consequences; and to use such arguments as shall have a tendency to cause sinners to escape all the exquisite, the inconceivable pains of death-eternal.
Be this our attempt this night, and be our text the following words of sacred writ:
Psalm 89:48
What man is he that liveth and shall not see death?
Suppose a person blessed with a most healthy constitution; breathing the air of some friendly and in the practice of exercise and temperance, the great promoters and preservers of health; imagine him not smitten with the sword of war, wasted by famine, nor consumed by pestilence, but year after year to roll, and he still be possessed of the enjoyment of life, yet the fatal line is drawn over which he cannot pass; the awful, the important moment must arrive, when he, in his own person, shall have verified the truth contained in the text, “that there is no man that liveth who shall not see death.”
The historic as well as sacred page, fully evinces the truth of this assertion. Where are all those illustrious heroes, famed orators, sage philosophers, celebrated poets, whose names grace the volumes of antiquity? Where, indeed all the posterity of Adam, the noble and ignoble? All, all have paid their last great debt of nature, have, in the language of the Psalmist, seen death two only excepted, and those also whose existence hath been only as of a day.
“Dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou return” said God to Adam on his transgression.
“Man that is born of a woman,” saith Job, “is of few days and full of trouble. He cometh up like a flower and is cut down; he fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not.”
“It is appointed, “saith St. Paul, unto men once to die.” Unto all men that shall ever live, except those who shall be found alive at the second advent of the Redeemer, such, faith the same apostle, “shall not sleep, but shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.”
But why cite we authorities to prove that which none pretend to deny? Since we all confess the mortality of man, it must be of the utmost moment to be informed of the preparation that death requires.
It was the observation of a certain Pagan, that when the Supreme called into being the heavens and the earth, he transformed himself into Love. True it is, “That God is Love,” and that all nature exhibits a rich display of the divine munificence. But in nothing did the goodness of the Almighty Creator shine forth more conspicuous, than in the formation and state of Man. How majestic, how beauteous his person! How noble, now divine his soul! Placed in the fairest part of all the fair creation, possessing the heavenly image, and enjoying communion with the most bounteous Author of his Being, nothing was wanting to consummate his felicity; nothing necessary for ever to perpetuate it, but a due observance of that easy and good law which God had given him. Had Adam paid proper respect to the divine command, it is the opinion of the best writers, both Jewish and Christian, that after his obedience had been sufficiently tried, he would have been translated from an earthly to a heavenly paradise.
By his apostasy, what did he not lose?
He lost the immortality of his person; or his body became mortal.
He lost the favour and friendship of heaven.
He lost the divine image, or the moral restitute of his nature, and consequently his happiness: And he became subject to miseries here, to endless and intolerable torments hereafter.
Unhappy Adam, thou sole father of mankind! Happy was it for thee, and for thy progeny, that thy Creator’s goodness was not exhausted in thy formation, but that mercy infinite yet remained for thy redemption!
The divine Jesus was appointed by the Father of Mercies to interpose in our favor. He most graciously undertook to restore to man all that he had left, and to deliver him from all the evils to which he is exposed. The Son of God is, therefore, emphatically stiled our Redeemer, our Deliverer, our Saviour.
The human body became mortal; but shall it not be restored to immortality by the omnipotence of the Redeemer? Although it shall be laid, it shall not be lost in the grave. For “the hour is coming when the Dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall live.” “The trumpet shall sound,” we are told, “and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed, for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
Man lost the divine favour and friendship. No sooner had he violated the sacred precept, but war, as it were, was declared between heaven and earth. Our first great friend, most justly became our enemy. We were exposed to vanquishment, ruin, death. This we fully merited; this we should have fatally experienced had not the Almighty ceased to contend. Unsolicited, the sword of vengeance, is sheathed, and O astonishing! The Omnipotent himself; He before whom all the Angels of heaven bow with the profoundest reverence, and at whose mighty name all the devils of hell tremble, deigns to sue for peace; most mercifully condescends to lay aside the robes of celestial glory; to take upon him the humble garb of humanity, and to labour, and toil, and bleed, to effect the Reconciliation.
“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.” This divine Logos “bore our griefs, carried our sorrows, was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
It being most reasonable that the offending party should manifest some signs of contrition, previous to future favor and friendship, to this they were excited by the Prince of Peace, upon his entrance on his mediatorial office. “Repent,” saith he, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
“Recollect, O ye sons of men! Your ungrateful, repeated, unjustifiable offences against your Almighty Father; let a due sense of them fill you with remorse, cover you with shame, and cause you to be willing to accept the divine clemency; for now it is proclaimed; the gospel dispensation hath taken place; the doors of heaven are open to every repenting, returning offender.”
Thus did the merciful Saviour endeavour to dispose men to be reconciled with their offended Maker. Thus, “was God in Christ reconciling the world unto himself; restoring us to his favour and friendship.
The medium of reconciliation, is the blood of Jesus, apprehended by faith, with a disposition of penitence and sincere obedience.
With what fervor of affection are we entreated by the apostle to accept of this favour? “We are ambassadors for Christ,” says he “as though God did beseech you by us: We pray you, in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God; for he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
And how highly are those honoured who are obedient to the voice of the Redeemer, who suffer themselves to be redeemed by him. No longer are they stiled enemies, but friends of God. “Ye are my Friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.”
By the fall we lost also the divine image, and, of course, our happiness; for when we ceased to resemble God, we became incapable of the enjoyment of him. Without a similarity of temper and disposition between two beings, there cannot be any affection, agreement, or felicity. Man was at first created holy, that he might be happy; that he might possess, in some sort, the happiness which God himself enjoys. So absolutely necessary is purity of soul, to render us capable of celestial enjoyments, that we are assured in the most peremptory manner, that “without holiness no man shall see the Lord,” or can be qualified for the enjoyment of him.
The great Mediator affords the means to regain the heavenly temper we lost. His holy ordinances are ordained for this very end. They are rendered efficacious through the assistance of the divine Spirit; and it’s powerful aid, it’s sanctifying saving graces, together with every other favor, we are assured of upon our due application to the throne of grace. “If men,” says he, “being evil, know how to give good gifts unto their children, how much more will their heavenly father give his Holy Spirit to those that ask it.” If mankind, who possess the principles of affection for their children in an imperfect degree, are yet most readily inclined to confer favours on them, How much more readily will the Father of Heaven bestow blessings on his offspring; even with as much greater freedom as he is better, more perfect than the sons of men?” “Ask” every spiritual and necessary blessing, “and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you. For every one that asketh,” in a proper manner “receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.” This gracious permission to supplicate divine benefits, with a most kind promise of having our petitions heard, our saviour was pleased thus to repeat to his disciples. “If ye shall ask anything in my name,” for the sake of my merits and mediation, “I will do it,” it shall be granted you.
72 “A Sermon Preached at Charlestown November 29, 1798 On the Anniversary Thanksgiving In Massachusetts—With An Appendix Designed to illustrate some parts of the discourse; exhibiting proof of the early existence, progress, and deleterious effects of French intrigue and influence in the United States. By Jedidah Morse, D.D. Pastor of the Church in Charlestown Published by Request, Second Edition. Printed by Samuel Hall, No. 53, Cornhill, Boston, 1799.
73 Boller, George Washington & Religion, p. 78. says, “He expressed similar satisfaction with a thanksgiving sermon delivered by Jedidiah Morse, Congregational minister, staunch Federalist, and ‘father of American geography,’ to celebrate the passing of the French crisis in 1798. But what Washington particularly liked was the appendix, which Morse had added to the sermon, ‘exhibiting proofs of the early existence, progress and deleterious effects of French intrigue and influence in the United States.’ Washington told Morse that he had read the appendix ‘with pleasure’ and wished that it ‘could meet a more general circulation’ because it contained ‘important information.’ What he thought of the sermon itself he did not say.” It is true that Washington seemingly approved the sermon. But note that the argument misses the point, since the appendix is thoroughly Christian as well as the sermon. Either Boller suppresses this fact, or has not read the sermon and the appendix. Either way, this is substandard research.
74 The text continues, “Foreign intrigue, the bane of our independence, peace, and prosperity, has been operating, in this country, in various ways, for more than twenty years past, in insidious efforts to diminish our national limits, importance, and resources, &c.” (Preceding Discourse, p. 15)
“It is the object of this appendix to substantiate, from facts, the truth of that article in the preceding Discourse, of which the above is a part. In doing this, I consider myself as discharging an important duty of my profession. The interests of religion and good government, in the present state of the world, if we may judge from the condition of France, and her conquered countries, Holland, Geneva, and Switzerland, are inseparably interwoven, and must prosper or decay together. Anarchy is fatal to the religion and morals, as well as to the political health and prosperity of a nation; and so, I believe, for the same reason, is French influence. To develop and oppose it, therefore, is to espouse the cause of the Church as well as of the State.
“The intrigues, and consequent influence of France, in this country, I conceive, have corrupted, to an incalculable extent, all the sources of our true happiness. Our political divisions and embarrassments, and much of that Atheistical infidelity and irreligion, which, during the last twenty years, have made such alarming progress among us, are probably but the poisonous fruits of our alliance and intimate intercourse with the French nation. Her schemes and views concerning us, through all our vicissitudes, have been uniformly hostile to our dearest rights and interests. In proof of this, I appeal to the facts hereafter related.
