Indeed, the remaining Loyalists chose to risk the elements rather than the fury of the returning citizens. Washington continues:
When the Order Issued therefore for Imbarking the Troops in Boston, no Electric Shock, no sudden Clap of thunder, in a word the last Trump, could not have struck them with greater Consternation. They were at their Wits’ end, and conscious of their black ingratitude chose to commit themselves in the manner I have above describ’d to the Mercy of the Waves at a tempestuous Season rather than meet their offended Countrymen.170
George Washington wrote a letter to Major General John Armstrong on the 4th of July, 1777. He noted that the evacuation of the British troops from New Jersey occurred just before the harvest—too early to burn the nearly-ripe crops, but not too early or late for the Americans to harvest the grain:
The evacuation of Jersey at this time, seems to be a peculiar mark of providence, as the Inhabitants have an Opportunity of Securing their Harvests of Hay and Grain.171
He wrote to Major-General Israel Putnam on October 19, 1777, and said, “Should Providence be pleased to crown our arms in the course of the campaign with one more fortunate stroke...I trust all will be well in His good time...”172 The Providence of God worked in God’s sovereign time in Washington’s thoughts, based in part on the biblical text of Ecclesiastes 3:11.
General Washington wrote a letter to Landon Carter on October 27, 1777, in which he discussed prisoners rounded up by the American patriots in the North. He notes:
This singular instance of Providence, and of our fortune under it, exhibits a striking proof of the advantages which result from unanimity and a spirited conduct in the militia...
I flatter myself that a superintending Providence is ordering everything for the best, and that, in due time, all will end well.173
From his Farewell Address, 1796, we read these words:
Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and, at no distant period, a great Nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a People always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt that in the course of time and things the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages wch. might be lost by a steady adherence to it? Can it be, that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a Nation with its virtue? The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human Nature. Alas! is it rendered impossible by its vices?174
In short, Washington is saying that a nation is happy according to its level of virtue. Here are remarks he made in his Circular Letter to the States, June 8, 1783:
The Citizens of America, placed in the most enviable condition, as the sole Lords and Proprietors of a vast Tract of Continent, comprehending all the various soils and climates of the World, and abounding with all the necessaries and conveniencies of life, are now by the late satisfactory pacification, acknowledged to be possessed of absolute freedom and Independency; They are, from this period, to be considered as the Actors on a most conspicuous Theatre, which seems to be peculiarly designated by Providence for the display of human greatness and felicity...175
To Reverend John Rodgers, Head Quarters, June 11, 1783:
Glorious indeed has been our Contest: glorious, if we consider the Prize for which we have contended, and glorious in its Issue; but in the midst of our Joys, I hope we shall not forget that, to divine Providence is to be ascribed the Glory and the Praise.176
To Marquis de Lafayette, June 19, 1788:
I do not believe, that Providence has done so much for nothing.177
And we could go on and on and on and on.
To George Washington, Providence is omniscient (knows all things), omnipotent (can do all things), and omnipresent (everywhere at the same time). These are the very same attributes of God outlined by the historic Christian faith.
CONCLUSION
To squeeze Washington into a secular image requires that substantial evidence be ignored, distorted or suppressed. When one realizes that the use of the term “Providence” was Washington’s favorite and most frequent way of referring to God, then it is clear that he consciously and constantly referred to God throughout his entire life. To hold that Washington was a Deist is to make the self-professed preacher of Providence into the very opposite of what he claimed to be.
THIRTY
George Washington’s Christian Worldview
“It is vain to exclaim against the depravity of human nature...the experience of every age and nation has proved it...No institution, not built on the presumptive truth of these maxims can succeed.”
George Washington, 1778
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While a Christian worldview may be defined differently by various scholars, it seems clear to us that a thoroughgoing Christian worldview will include an affirmation of the following:
1. God’s existence
2. An affirmation of the three persons of the Trinity
3. The deity of Christ (a subset of #2)
4. God’s decree, plan or will
5. God’s self-revelation in the scriptures and in nature
6. The doctrine of Creation
7. Mankind’s sinfulness
8. God’s saving work in Christ
a. His birth
b. His exemplary life
c. His teaching
1) The two great commandments
