Yet, O Lord God most holy, O Lord most mighty, O holy and most merciful Saviour, deliver us not into the bitter pains of eternal death.
Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts: shut not thy merciful ears to our prayer; but spare us, Lord most holy, O God most mighty, O holy and merciful Saviour, thou most worthy Judge eternal, suffer us not, at our last hour for any pains of death, to fall from thee.
Then, while the earth shall be cast upon the body by some standing by, the Priest shall say,
Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother here departed, we therefore commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be like unto his glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself.
Then shall be said or sung,
I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, From henceforth blessed are the dead which die in the Lord: Even so, saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labours. Reverend 14.13.
Then the Priest shall say,
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord have mercy upon us
Another book found in Washington’s library when he died was the 1744 edition of The Sick Man Visited: And Furnished with Instructions, Meditations, and Prayers, for putting him in mind of his Change; for supporting him under his Distemper; and for preparing him for, and carrying him through, his last conflict with Death by Nathanael Spinckes, Late Prebendary of Sarum. Printed in London. We cannot be sure to what extent Washington ever used this particular book. But its message certainly was relevant because of the many serious illnesses that Washington had that nearly took his life at various times: Small pox in Barbados, a serious illness just before Braddock’s defeat; the illness connected with his “grim King” reference. One illness was so severe that he wrote to his Pastor/Physician Reverend Charles Green, “Reverend Sir: Necessity (and that I hope will Apologize for the trouble I must give you), obliges me to ask the favour of a visit; that I may have an opportunity of consulting you on a disorder which I have linger’d under for three Months past. It is painful to me to write, Mr. Carlyle will say the rest, I shall only add, that I am with very great esteem, ...”(WGW, vol. 2, 11-13-1757. To Reverend Charles Green. See also WGW, vol. 2, 8-26-1761. Washington also survived two very severe illnesses while President (a case of near fatal pneumonia, a near fatal abscess on his thigh). Having lost her first husband, and her two children, death was never far from the mind of Martha Washington either, as she experienced many illnesses as well. (WGW, vol. 27, 7-10-1783. To George William Fairfax. Washington wrote, “Mrs. Washington enjoys an incompetent share of health; Billious Fevers and Cholic’s attack her very often, and reduce her low; at this moment she is but barely recovering from one of them; at the same time that she thanks Mrs. Fairfax and you for your kind suggestion of Doctr. James’s Annaliptic Pills, she begs you both to accept her most Affectionate regards; she would have conveyed these in a letter of her own, with grateful acknowledgements of Mrs. Fairfax’s kind remembrance by Mr. Lee, if her health would have allowed it.” The prayers from Spinkes include: “A Prayer for Patience and Resignation to the Divine Will”, “A Prayer for a Sanctifies Use of Sickness,” “A Prayer for Victory over Death.” pp. 187-188, 289.
Washington’s words describing Lord Fairfax were nearly as true of himself: “Lord Fairfax (as I have been told) after having bowed down to the grave, and in a manner shaken hands with death, is perfectly restored, and enjoys his usual good health, and as much vigour as falls to the lot of Ninety.”(WGW, vol. 11, 3-11-1778. To George William Fairfax. Thus an intrepid recognition of his own mortality is evident throughout Washington’s writings. The letters of the twenty-three year old soldier spoke of “almost certain death”, (WGW, vol. 1, 7-18-1755. To Mrs. Mary Washington; to Robert Dinwiddie.) and humorously noted the report of “a circumstantial account of my death and dying speech.” (WGW, vol. 1, 7-18-1755. To John Augustine Washington) We find the older Washington using the imagery of “wearied traveler” (WGW, vol. 27, 2-20-1784. To Maj. Gen. Henry Knox; 3-2-1797.) and “pilgrim”(WGW, vol. 10, 1-23-1778. To Reverend William Gordon) en route to a “haven of hope” (WGW, vol. 10, 1-23-1778. To Reverend William Gordon.) or a “haven of security and rest.”(WGW vol. 21, 3-26-1781. To Maj. Gen. John Armstrong.
vol. 36, 3-2-1797. To John Luzac.) Washington, mindful that his pilgrimage would one day end, wrote to John Francis Mercer on September 26, 1792:
If nothing impeaching my honor, or honesty, is said, I care little for the rest. I have pursued one uniform course for three score years, and am happy in believing that the world have thought it a right one: of it’s being so, I am so well satisfied myself, that I shall not depart from it by turning either to the right or to the left, until I arrive at the end of my pilgrimage.(WGW vol. 32, 9-26-1792. To John Francis Mercer)
25 WGW, vol. 26, 4-5-1783. To Marquis de Lafayette.
26 Ibid., vol. 30, 9-8-1789. To Dr. James Craik. vol. 32, 9-21-1792. To Tobias Lear.
27 See Lane note re: Lathrop, Lane, Washington Collection, Boston Athenaeum p. 119.
28 WGW, vol. 30, 6-22-1788.
29 John Lathrop, “Discourse Before the Humane Society in Boston” (1787), p. 33.
30 WGW vol. 35, 1-12-1797. To Benjamin Walker. “It would be a singular satisfaction to me to learn, who was the Author of these letters; and from what source they originated. [Note: So far as is known the “singular satisfaction” of discovering who wrote the spurious letters was denied Washington.]”; WGW, vol. 2, February, 1757. To the right Honorable John, Earl of Loudoun: General and Commander in Chief of All His Majesty’s Forces in North America; and Governor and Commander in Chief of His Majesty’s Most Antient Colony and Dominion of Virginia February, 1757, “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. We likewise beg leave to declare our singular satisfaction and sanguine hopes, on your Lordships immediate appointment over our Colony; as it in a more especial manner Entitles Us to your Lordships patronage.” WGW vol. 23, 1-29-1782. To Philip Schuyler. “Every information tending to prove that the affairs respecting the Grants may be speedily and happily accommodated, gives me singular Satisfaction. I will flatter myself, both the Articles of intelligence you have recd. are well grounded, ...”; WGW, vol. 27, 12-13-1783. To the Trustees and Faculty of the University of the state of Pennsylvania. “I experience a singular satisfaction in receiving your congratulations on the establishment of Peace and the security of those important interests which were involved in the fate of the War.” WGW, vol. 30, 8-28-1788. To George Richards Minot. “I will only add that I always feel a singular satisfaction in discovering proofs of talents and patriotism, in those who are soon to take the parts of the generation, [Minot was then 30 years of age] which is now hastening to leave the stage,...”
31 WGW, vol. 29, 2-22-1788. To Reverend John Lathrop.
32 Ellis, His Excellency, p. 269.
33 Craik’s account of Washington’s death was published as an appendix to a sermon entitled, “A Sermon Occasioned by the Death of Gen. George Washington, Commander in Chief of the Armies of the United Sates of America. Who departed this life, on Saturday the 14th December, 1799, after an illness of about 24 hours. Preached December 29, 1799. by the Reverend Hezekiah N. Woodruff A.M. Pastor of the First Church of Christ in Stamington. To which is Added, An Appendix Giving a particular account of the behaviour of Gen. Washington, during his distressing illness, also of the nature of the complaint of which he died, By Doctors James Craik and Elisha C. Dick, attending Physicians. Printed by Samuel Trumbull, For Messsrs. Edward & Nathan Smith, Stonington Prot, January, 1800. p. 16.
34 Meade, Old Churches and Families of Virginia, 1857, II, pp. 254-55.
35 WGW, vol. 37 Last Will and Testament. In his will he wrote: “The family Vault at Mount Vernon requiring repairs, and being improperly situated besides, I desire that a new one of Brick, and upon a larger Scale, may be built at the foot of what is commonly called the Vineyard Inclosure, on the ground which is marked out. In which my remains, with those of my deceased relatives (now in the old Vault) and such others of my family as may chuse to be entombed there, may be deposited. And it is my express desire that my Corpse may be Interred in a private manner, without parade, or funeral Oration. [Note: The new vault (the present one) was built in 1830-31 by Lawrence Lewis and George Washington Parke Custis.]
36 WGW, vol. 32, 2-24-1793. To Frances Bassett Washington. There are several other examples of Washington’s strong calls for a religious and philosophical Christian-stoicism. Consider the following: WGW, vol. 36 To WILLIAM AUGUSTINE WASHINGTON, February 27, 1798.
My dear Sir: Mr. Rice called here in his way to Alexandria, and delivered me your letter of the 15th. instant. Of the recent afflicting event, which was related therein, we had received previous accounts; and on that as on former occasions of a similar nature, sympathised sincerely in your sorrows. But these are the decrees of an Allwise Providence, against whose dictates the skill, or foresight of man can be of no avail; it is incumbent upon him therefore, to submit with as little repining as the sensibility of his nature will admit. This will have its course, but may be greatly ameliorated by philosophical reflection and resignation. As you have three children left, I trust they will be spared to you, and sincerely hope that in them you will find consolation and comfort.
vol. 33, 5-25-1794 To WILLIAM PEARCE
“Mr. Pearce: I learn with concern from your letter of the 18th. instant, that your crops were still labouring under a drought, and most of them very much injured. At disappointments and losses which are the effects of Providential acts, I never repine; because I am sure the alwise disposer of events knows better than we do, what is best for us, or what we deserve.”
vol. 3, 4-25-1773 To BURWELL BASSETT
“Dear Sir: The interruption of the post for several weeks, prevented our receiving the melancholy account of your loss until within these few days. That we sympathize in the misfortune, and lament the decree which has deprived you of so dutiful a child, and 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, and as far as the strength of our reason and religion can carry us, a cheerful acquiescence to the Divine Will, is what we are to aim; and I am persuaded that your own good sense will arm you with fortitude to withstand the stroke, great as k is, and enable you to console Mrs. Bassett, whose loss and feelings are much to be pitied.”
vol. 9, 8-11777 To SAMUEL WASHINGTON
“Dear Brothr: Your letter by Capt. Rice, without date came to my hand last night. Where my last was dated, or from whence, I cannot at this time recollect; but with truth can assure, that it is not owing to a want of Inclination that you do not hear from me oftener, nor is it altogether to be ascribed to the hurry of business in which I am immerc’d: but to your living out of the Post Road, and my want of knowledge of accidental or Casual Conveyance. I most sincerely condole with you on your late loss; and doubt not your feeling it in the most sensible manner; nor do I expect that human Fortitude, and reason, can so far overcome natural affection, as to enable us to look with calmness upon losses wh. distress us altho they are acts of Providence, and in themselves unavoidable, yet acquiescence to the divine will is not only a duty, but is to be aided by every manly exertion to forget the causes of such uneasiness.”
vol. 35, 6-8-1796 To HENRY KNOX
“My dear Sir: I wou’d not let Mr. Bingham (who says he is about to Visit you) depart without acknowledging the receipt of several letters from you; and offering Mrs. Knox and yourself, my sincere condolence on your late heavy loss. Great and trying, as it must be to your sensibility, I am persuaded after the first severe pangs are over you both possess fortitude enough to view the event, as the dispensation of providence, and will submit to its decrees, with philosophical resignation.”
vol. 35, 3-2-1797 To HENRY KNOX
“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. [The death of three children.] But 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.”
37 Fields, Worthy Partner, p. 371. For Martha Washington’s commitment to faith in divine providence and its connection to Christian and spiritual strength in the context of the lives of her family and friends, consider the following. All of these are from Fields, Worthy Partner, as noted.
p. 3 From Robert Carter Nicholas, Williamsburg, 7th August, 1757
“...how great Christian patience and resignation you submitted to your late misfortune;...”
