George Washington dedicated the United States here at the corner of Ground ZERO:
http://www.saintpaulschapel.org/in_depth/
When St. Paul’s Chapel was completed in 1766, it stood in a field some distance from the growing port city to the south. It was built as a “chapel-of-ease” for parishioners who lived far from the primary, or “Mother,” church. George Washington worshiped here on Inauguration Day, April 30, 1789, and attended services at St. Paul's during the two years New York City was the country's capital. Above his pew is an 18th-century oil painting of the Great Seal of the United States, which was adopted in 1782.
On Sept 11 when the WTC Towers fell every building around them was damaged except this church. A sycamore tree behind the church (which I am told represents God's Judgement / Mercy) saved the church from a huge beam that was about to crush it.
God's Judgement for a country always begins at the place of dedication.
Monday, July 19, 2010
OH YES!!! IT DID HAPPEN !!! AND IT IS HISTORY!!!
It is a matter of history that when Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Dwight Eisenhower, found the victims of the death camps, he ordered all possible photographs to be taken, and for the German people from surrounding villages to be ushered through the camps and even made to bury the dead.
He did this because he said in words to this effect: 'Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses - because somewhere down the track of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened'
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"
Edmund Burke
------------------------------
In Memoriam
This week the UK removed The Holocaust from its school curriculum because it offended' the Muslim population which claims it never occurred.
This is a frightening portent of the fear that is gripping the world and how easily each country is giving into it.
It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended.
six million Jews,
20 million Russians,
10 million Christians
and 1,900 Catholic priests
who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated
with the German and Russian peoples looking the other way!
Now, more than ever, with Iran, among others, claiming the Holocaust to be 'a myth,' it is imperative to make sure the world never forgets.
Continue to pray for the United States and her allies who stand for the truth and uphold the truth that all men are created equal, that is ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL!
He did this because he said in words to this effect: 'Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses - because somewhere down the track of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened'
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"
Edmund Burke
------------------------------
In Memoriam
This week the UK removed The Holocaust from its school curriculum because it offended' the Muslim population which claims it never occurred.
This is a frightening portent of the fear that is gripping the world and how easily each country is giving into it.
It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended.
six million Jews,
20 million Russians,
10 million Christians
and 1,900 Catholic priests
who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated
with the German and Russian peoples looking the other way!
Now, more than ever, with Iran, among others, claiming the Holocaust to be 'a myth,' it is imperative to make sure the world never forgets.
Continue to pray for the United States and her allies who stand for the truth and uphold the truth that all men are created equal, that is ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
God tells us in the bible book of Ephesians, chapter 6 , verses 10-12, " Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
We are in a war and with war come warfare. We being in this war need to know our enemy and what his tactics are. Also we need to know how to wage this war that is fought on the battlefield of our daily lives, whose theaters of operation include but are not limited to; our mind, our physical bodies, our relationships, our careers and our government.
We re told in the scriptures how to be ready for this warfare that comes to us each and every day; 1) be strong in the Lord - God through his Holy Spirit and the power of Jesus is the only strength that we can tap into to fight this war effectively. 2) we are to put on the whole armor of God so that we can take the stand necessary to face the enemy and defeat him in battle 3) we need to remember that each day when we go out the door to conduct the affairs of our lives that we face an enemy that is unseen to our natural eyes but is manifest to us in the way that people around us conduct themselves (this isn't to say that the people are all demon possessed or are doing the devils bidding). We do need to understand that there are forces in play that are "pulling the strings" of those who don't know God personally and are not on his team.
With this in mind we need to keep on the front lines for our families and this nation and realize that we are in a battle for the souls of men, those we know and those we don't know.
We are in a war and with war come warfare. We being in this war need to know our enemy and what his tactics are. Also we need to know how to wage this war that is fought on the battlefield of our daily lives, whose theaters of operation include but are not limited to; our mind, our physical bodies, our relationships, our careers and our government.
We re told in the scriptures how to be ready for this warfare that comes to us each and every day; 1) be strong in the Lord - God through his Holy Spirit and the power of Jesus is the only strength that we can tap into to fight this war effectively. 2) we are to put on the whole armor of God so that we can take the stand necessary to face the enemy and defeat him in battle 3) we need to remember that each day when we go out the door to conduct the affairs of our lives that we face an enemy that is unseen to our natural eyes but is manifest to us in the way that people around us conduct themselves (this isn't to say that the people are all demon possessed or are doing the devils bidding). We do need to understand that there are forces in play that are "pulling the strings" of those who don't know God personally and are not on his team.
With this in mind we need to keep on the front lines for our families and this nation and realize that we are in a battle for the souls of men, those we know and those we don't know.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
A prayer that our nations citizens needs to utter to God
A Pastor with GUTS!
This is absolutely great ! ! !
Thought you might enjoy this interesting
prayer given in Kansas at
the opening session of their Senate. It seems
prayer still upsets some
people.. When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open
the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is
what they heard:
Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask
your forgiveness and to seek your direction and
guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those
who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we
have done.
We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed
our values.
We have exploited the poor and called it
the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it
welfare..
We have killed our unborn and called it
choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it
justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our
children and called it building self esteem.....
We have abused power and called it
politics.
We have coveted our neighbor's possessions
and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and
pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values
of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts
today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free..
Amen!
The response was immediate. A number of
legislators walked out during the prayer in
protest. In 6 short weeks, Central Christian
Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than
5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls
responding negatively. The church is now receiving
international requests for copies of this prayer
from India , Africa and Korea .
Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on
his radio program, 'The Rest of the Story,'and
received a larger response to this program than any
other he has ever aired.
With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep
over our nation and wholeheartedly become our
desire so that we again can be called 'one nation
under God.'
If you don't stand for something,
you will fall for everything.
This is absolutely great ! ! !
Thought you might enjoy this interesting
prayer given in Kansas at
the opening session of their Senate. It seems
prayer still upsets some
people.. When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open
the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is
what they heard:
Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask
your forgiveness and to seek your direction and
guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those
who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we
have done.
We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed
our values.
We have exploited the poor and called it
the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it
welfare..
We have killed our unborn and called it
choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it
justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our
children and called it building self esteem.....
We have abused power and called it
politics.
We have coveted our neighbor's possessions
and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and
pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values
of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts
today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free..
Amen!
The response was immediate. A number of
legislators walked out during the prayer in
protest. In 6 short weeks, Central Christian
Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than
5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls
responding negatively. The church is now receiving
international requests for copies of this prayer
from India , Africa and Korea .
Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on
his radio program, 'The Rest of the Story,'and
received a larger response to this program than any
other he has ever aired.
With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep
over our nation and wholeheartedly become our
desire so that we again can be called 'one nation
under God.'
If you don't stand for something,
you will fall for everything.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Laus Deo - What is really written on top of the Washington Momument ?
Laus Deo
On the aluminum cap atop the Washington Monument in Washington, DC are two words: Laus Deo. No one can see these words. In fact ..... most visitors to the monument have no idea they are even there and ... for that matter ... probably could care less!
But there they are ... 555 feet, 5.125 inches high ... perched atop the monument to the father of our nation ... overlooking the 69 square miles which comprise the District of Columbia ... capital of the United States of America.
Laus Deo! Two seemingly insignificant, unnoticed words ... out of sight and, one might think, out of mind ..... but very meaningfully placed at the highest point over what is the most powerful city in the world.
And what might those two words ... composed of just four syllables and only seven letters ... mean? Very simply ..... "Praise be to God!" Though construction of this giant obelisk began in 1848 when James Polk was President of the United States, it was not until 1888 that the monument was inaugurated and opened to the public.
It took twenty five years to finally cap the memorial with the tribute Laus Deo! Praise be to God!
From atop this magnificent granite and marble structure ... a visitor can take in the beautiful panoramic view of the city with its division into four major segments. And from that vantage point one can also easily see the original plan of the designer, Pierre Charles l'Enfant ... a perfect cross imposed upon the landscape ..... with the White House to the North ... the Jefferson Memorial to the South ... the Capitol to the East ... and the Lincoln Memorial to the West. A cross ... you say?
How interesting! And ... no doubt ... intended to carry a meaning for those who bother to notice. Praise be to God!
Within the monument itself are 898 steps and 50 landings. As one climbs the steps and pauses at the landings the memorial stones share a message. On the 12th Landing is a prayer offered by the City of Baltimore; on the 20th is a memorial presented by some Chinese Christians; on the 24th a presentation made by Sunday School children from New York and Philadelphia quoting Proverbs 10:7, Luke 18:16 and Proverbs 22:6. Praise be to God!
When the cornerstone of the Washington Monument was laid on July 4th, 1848 deposited within it were many items including the Holy Bible presented by the Bible Society. Praise be to God! Such was the discipline, the moral direction, the spiritual mood given by the founder and first President of our unique democracy ... "one nation, under God."
I am awed by Washington's prayer for America. Have you never read it? Well now is your opportunity ... read on!
"Almighty God; We make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy protection; that Thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government; and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the United states at large. And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
Laus Deo!
It is clear when one studies the history of our great nation that Washington's America was one of the few countries in all the world established under the guidance, direction and banner of Almighty God, to whom was given all praise, honor and worship by the great men who formed and fashioned her pivotal foundations. And ... when one stops to observe the inscriptions found in public places all over our nation's capitol ... one will easily find the signature of God.
We are a nation under God!!! Laus Deo!!! Praise be to God!!! "Unless the Lord builds the house its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. (Psalm 127: 1)
The Separation of Church and State concept is basic to our Country's founding. It simply means that the government shall never make any religion a National religion. It never was intended to prevent the utterance of the name of God at political functions and in the daily course of our undertakings. Liberals and extremist who think differently have no foundation in history for their position. ---- IN GOD WE TRUST
Prior to delivery of the capstone in Washington, it was placed on exhibit at Tiffany's in New York City where it was placed on the floor and persons could have the dubious prestige of "jumping over the top of the Washington Monument." Engraved on the four sides of the capstone was the official record of the construction of the monument.
The west face read: "Corner Stone laid on bed of foundation, July 4, 1848. First stone at height of 152 feet laid August 7, 1880. Capstone set December 6, 1884"; and the east face read "LAUS DEO." The north and south faces contained names of the commission and the key men in the work of completion. Although weatherbeaten, the inscription is still visible.
The laying of the capstone was appropriately celebrated. At the top of the monument, a special scaffolding had been constructed where the principals involved with the construction of the monument could stand. As thousands of eyes were trained upward toward the pinnacle, a 60-mile—per—hour wind was blowing, and the footing was dangerous. According to S. H. Nealy's sketch of the ceremony, P. H. McLaughlin, project superintendent, placed the tip on the pyramidion as the rigger, James Hogan, released an American flag to signify the completion to the cheers of the crowd below and the booming of cannon brought from Fort Myer, Va., especially for the occasion. Also on the top platform were Bernard R. Green, civil engineer, Capt. G. W. Davis, assistant project engineer, Colonel Thomas Lincoln Casey, Chief project engineer, and Lewis O'Brien, foreman.
On the aluminum cap atop the Washington Monument in Washington, DC are two words: Laus Deo. No one can see these words. In fact ..... most visitors to the monument have no idea they are even there and ... for that matter ... probably could care less!
But there they are ... 555 feet, 5.125 inches high ... perched atop the monument to the father of our nation ... overlooking the 69 square miles which comprise the District of Columbia ... capital of the United States of America.
Laus Deo! Two seemingly insignificant, unnoticed words ... out of sight and, one might think, out of mind ..... but very meaningfully placed at the highest point over what is the most powerful city in the world.
And what might those two words ... composed of just four syllables and only seven letters ... mean? Very simply ..... "Praise be to God!" Though construction of this giant obelisk began in 1848 when James Polk was President of the United States, it was not until 1888 that the monument was inaugurated and opened to the public.
It took twenty five years to finally cap the memorial with the tribute Laus Deo! Praise be to God!
From atop this magnificent granite and marble structure ... a visitor can take in the beautiful panoramic view of the city with its division into four major segments. And from that vantage point one can also easily see the original plan of the designer, Pierre Charles l'Enfant ... a perfect cross imposed upon the landscape ..... with the White House to the North ... the Jefferson Memorial to the South ... the Capitol to the East ... and the Lincoln Memorial to the West. A cross ... you say?
How interesting! And ... no doubt ... intended to carry a meaning for those who bother to notice. Praise be to God!
Within the monument itself are 898 steps and 50 landings. As one climbs the steps and pauses at the landings the memorial stones share a message. On the 12th Landing is a prayer offered by the City of Baltimore; on the 20th is a memorial presented by some Chinese Christians; on the 24th a presentation made by Sunday School children from New York and Philadelphia quoting Proverbs 10:7, Luke 18:16 and Proverbs 22:6. Praise be to God!
When the cornerstone of the Washington Monument was laid on July 4th, 1848 deposited within it were many items including the Holy Bible presented by the Bible Society. Praise be to God! Such was the discipline, the moral direction, the spiritual mood given by the founder and first President of our unique democracy ... "one nation, under God."
I am awed by Washington's prayer for America. Have you never read it? Well now is your opportunity ... read on!
"Almighty God; We make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy protection; that Thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government; and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the United states at large. And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
Laus Deo!
It is clear when one studies the history of our great nation that Washington's America was one of the few countries in all the world established under the guidance, direction and banner of Almighty God, to whom was given all praise, honor and worship by the great men who formed and fashioned her pivotal foundations. And ... when one stops to observe the inscriptions found in public places all over our nation's capitol ... one will easily find the signature of God.
We are a nation under God!!! Laus Deo!!! Praise be to God!!! "Unless the Lord builds the house its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. (Psalm 127: 1)
The Separation of Church and State concept is basic to our Country's founding. It simply means that the government shall never make any religion a National religion. It never was intended to prevent the utterance of the name of God at political functions and in the daily course of our undertakings. Liberals and extremist who think differently have no foundation in history for their position. ---- IN GOD WE TRUST
Prior to delivery of the capstone in Washington, it was placed on exhibit at Tiffany's in New York City where it was placed on the floor and persons could have the dubious prestige of "jumping over the top of the Washington Monument." Engraved on the four sides of the capstone was the official record of the construction of the monument.
The west face read: "Corner Stone laid on bed of foundation, July 4, 1848. First stone at height of 152 feet laid August 7, 1880. Capstone set December 6, 1884"; and the east face read "LAUS DEO." The north and south faces contained names of the commission and the key men in the work of completion. Although weatherbeaten, the inscription is still visible.
The laying of the capstone was appropriately celebrated. At the top of the monument, a special scaffolding had been constructed where the principals involved with the construction of the monument could stand. As thousands of eyes were trained upward toward the pinnacle, a 60-mile—per—hour wind was blowing, and the footing was dangerous. According to S. H. Nealy's sketch of the ceremony, P. H. McLaughlin, project superintendent, placed the tip on the pyramidion as the rigger, James Hogan, released an American flag to signify the completion to the cheers of the crowd below and the booming of cannon brought from Fort Myer, Va., especially for the occasion. Also on the top platform were Bernard R. Green, civil engineer, Capt. G. W. Davis, assistant project engineer, Colonel Thomas Lincoln Casey, Chief project engineer, and Lewis O'Brien, foreman.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
The Law Kills, but the Spirit gives Life
The Law Kills, but the Spirit gives Life
The problems of this land and it’s elected officials are varied and many; they range from bribery to extortion, from theft to lying, from adultery to selfishness, from deception to out right ignoring of the voice of the people. The root of government today in this land is no different than at any other time in the last 150 years or even before that. What is it that makes this era of government so extreme from others that have come through this land in our history? I propose that the root problem of those in public office toady is that they have no moral or spiritual compass to guide them, no moral or spiritual mooring to hold them when the storms of pressure to bend to “perceived” popular opinion come up suddenly. Those in the offices of our land are nothing more than hired hands doing the biding of their masters the special interest groups and the unions. They have no interest in anything but what will serve their bottom line and pad their own pockets.
Many times we in America have called for laws to be enacted to curb the immoral tide that is flowing against the national shores of our Godly heritage. This is only a band-aid to cover up the festering sores of the disease of immorality and ungodliness that ooze out of the pores of this once great nation. We need to return to the God that established this nation and set it upon a hill as a light to the nations. This nation was founded with the understanding that we had to govern ourselves as a people if this experiment in righteousness was to succeed and that we could only govern ourselves when we had something greater and stronger than ourselves to hold on to as a compass and an anchor. In the bible the book of first Corinthians chapter 3 verse 6 tells us that “God also has made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.
In the words of John Adams, “The Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.” The problem is not with the Constitution, but it is with the people who are running the government at this time. As grotesque and hideous as many of the evils of this land are today; abortion, gay rights, illegal immigration, ungodly leaders and the list goes on and on we can’t look to the passing of laws (the letter) to serve as the agent of change in this country but we need to make sure that we are in righteous standing with the God of this universe who created us and then we will see clearly to be lead by the Spirit of God so we and those around us will live in harmony with each other by the hand of God because we want to not because we are told to by a government that really cares less for us.
The problems of this land and it’s elected officials are varied and many; they range from bribery to extortion, from theft to lying, from adultery to selfishness, from deception to out right ignoring of the voice of the people. The root of government today in this land is no different than at any other time in the last 150 years or even before that. What is it that makes this era of government so extreme from others that have come through this land in our history? I propose that the root problem of those in public office toady is that they have no moral or spiritual compass to guide them, no moral or spiritual mooring to hold them when the storms of pressure to bend to “perceived” popular opinion come up suddenly. Those in the offices of our land are nothing more than hired hands doing the biding of their masters the special interest groups and the unions. They have no interest in anything but what will serve their bottom line and pad their own pockets.
Many times we in America have called for laws to be enacted to curb the immoral tide that is flowing against the national shores of our Godly heritage. This is only a band-aid to cover up the festering sores of the disease of immorality and ungodliness that ooze out of the pores of this once great nation. We need to return to the God that established this nation and set it upon a hill as a light to the nations. This nation was founded with the understanding that we had to govern ourselves as a people if this experiment in righteousness was to succeed and that we could only govern ourselves when we had something greater and stronger than ourselves to hold on to as a compass and an anchor. In the bible the book of first Corinthians chapter 3 verse 6 tells us that “God also has made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.
In the words of John Adams, “The Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.” The problem is not with the Constitution, but it is with the people who are running the government at this time. As grotesque and hideous as many of the evils of this land are today; abortion, gay rights, illegal immigration, ungodly leaders and the list goes on and on we can’t look to the passing of laws (the letter) to serve as the agent of change in this country but we need to make sure that we are in righteous standing with the God of this universe who created us and then we will see clearly to be lead by the Spirit of God so we and those around us will live in harmony with each other by the hand of God because we want to not because we are told to by a government that really cares less for us.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Prayer in American History (A Snapshot)
Many times in our lives we pray when we go to church or when there is a problem or a situation we need Gods help in. The sad reality is that many of those who call themselves Christians in America don’t make prayer a regular part of their lives when there are no problems or issues to deal with or to call out to God for. It seems that only when our backs are against the wall do we call out to God or even consider him as a last resort and even then we do it grudgingly or out of a sense of duty.
Let’s take a look at the moments in our American history when prayer (& fasting) has been called for and why. Even before we became a nation or a people who settled here for the purpose of freedom in our relationship with God there were those who prayed and fasted just because they wanted to draw nearer to God (The Separatists in England; also known as the Pilgrims, The Huguenots (French protestants), The Reformers (i.e. Martin Luther) and many others.
As we look at the true history of this republic (America) we see the hand of God in all aspects of it. Prayer was as intricate a part of the early settler’s lives as was breathing, so should it be for us today.
April 1607 – At Jamestown one of the first acts of Captain John Smith and his soldiers
was to erect a wooden cross on the shore at Cape Henry. The Rev. Robert
Hunt led 149 men in public prayer, thanking God for their safe journey and
they recommitted themselves to God’s plan and purpose for this New
World.
Nov. 1620 – The Mayflower Compact was signed and sealed by prayer
Nov. 1621 – The First thanksgiving when the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians gave
thanks to Almighty God and acknowledged their utter dependence upon
Him for their existence.
1653 – The first entry into the city records of New Amsterdam (present day New York) was the Rev. John Megapolensis’ prayer of intercession opening the court “Graciously incline our hearts, that we exercise the power which thou hast given us, to the general good of the community, and to the maintenance of the church, that we may be praised by them that do well, and a terror to evil-doers.”
1680 – During their establishment of New Hampshire as a province, a civil assembly was convened and a solemn public fast was proclaimed, a proclamation that “… their glorious cause (to be)… the glory of God… and spreading the gospel among the heathen”
1736 – Moravians and other persecuted Protestants who, when they touched the shores of
Georgia knelt in thanks to God. They said, “our end in leaving our native country
is not to gain riches and honor, but singly this – to live wholly to the glory of
God.”
Sept. 5, 1774 – The first Continental Congress, on it’s first day met, “The proceedings of the Assembly were introduced by religious observances and devout supplications to the throne of grace, for the inspiration of wisdom and the spirit of good counsels.”
General Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson many times during his command of confederate troops was heard to be pleading with God to “Baptize the whole army with His Holy Spirit.”
Abraham Lincoln, on September 22, 1862 issued the Emancipation Proclamation after seeking God for the reason why the South had such great victory in battle, and being impressed upon by God that the nation’s chief sins were slavery and pride, not only did he issue the proclamation but he also called for a national Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer throughout the North on April 30th, 1863.
Let’s take a look at the moments in our American history when prayer (& fasting) has been called for and why. Even before we became a nation or a people who settled here for the purpose of freedom in our relationship with God there were those who prayed and fasted just because they wanted to draw nearer to God (The Separatists in England; also known as the Pilgrims, The Huguenots (French protestants), The Reformers (i.e. Martin Luther) and many others.
As we look at the true history of this republic (America) we see the hand of God in all aspects of it. Prayer was as intricate a part of the early settler’s lives as was breathing, so should it be for us today.
April 1607 – At Jamestown one of the first acts of Captain John Smith and his soldiers
was to erect a wooden cross on the shore at Cape Henry. The Rev. Robert
Hunt led 149 men in public prayer, thanking God for their safe journey and
they recommitted themselves to God’s plan and purpose for this New
World.
Nov. 1620 – The Mayflower Compact was signed and sealed by prayer
Nov. 1621 – The First thanksgiving when the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians gave
thanks to Almighty God and acknowledged their utter dependence upon
Him for their existence.
1653 – The first entry into the city records of New Amsterdam (present day New York) was the Rev. John Megapolensis’ prayer of intercession opening the court “Graciously incline our hearts, that we exercise the power which thou hast given us, to the general good of the community, and to the maintenance of the church, that we may be praised by them that do well, and a terror to evil-doers.”
1680 – During their establishment of New Hampshire as a province, a civil assembly was convened and a solemn public fast was proclaimed, a proclamation that “… their glorious cause (to be)… the glory of God… and spreading the gospel among the heathen”
1736 – Moravians and other persecuted Protestants who, when they touched the shores of
Georgia knelt in thanks to God. They said, “our end in leaving our native country
is not to gain riches and honor, but singly this – to live wholly to the glory of
God.”
Sept. 5, 1774 – The first Continental Congress, on it’s first day met, “The proceedings of the Assembly were introduced by religious observances and devout supplications to the throne of grace, for the inspiration of wisdom and the spirit of good counsels.”
General Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson many times during his command of confederate troops was heard to be pleading with God to “Baptize the whole army with His Holy Spirit.”
Abraham Lincoln, on September 22, 1862 issued the Emancipation Proclamation after seeking God for the reason why the South had such great victory in battle, and being impressed upon by God that the nation’s chief sins were slavery and pride, not only did he issue the proclamation but he also called for a national Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer throughout the North on April 30th, 1863.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
George Washington's Farewell Address 1796
Take time to read what George Washington had to say as he left office and notice the insight He had about the course of the nation and it's future according to the choice we make as a people.
Washington's Farewell Address 1796
Friends and Citizens:
The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made.
I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be assured that this resolution has not been taken without a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his country; and that in withdrawing the tender of service, which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your future interest, no deficiency of grateful respect for your past kindness, but am supported by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both.
The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office to which your suffrages have twice called me have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty and to a deference for what appeared to be your desire. I constantly hoped that it would have been much earlier in my power, consistently with motives which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement from which I had been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this, previous to the last election, had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to you; but mature reflection on the then perplexed and critical posture of our affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon the idea.
I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible with the sentiment of duty or propriety, and am persuaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my services, that, in the present circumstances of our country, you will not disapprove my determination to retire.
The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous trust were explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I will only say that I have, with good intentions, contributed towards the organization and administration of the government the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious in the outset of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that if any circumstances have given peculiar value to my services, they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe that, while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it.
In looking forward to the moment which is intended to terminate the career of my public life, my feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved country for the many honors it has conferred upon me; still more for the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me; and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment, by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country from these services, let it always be remembered to your praise, and as an instructive example in our annals, that under circumstances in which the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to mislead, amidst appearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging, in situations in which not unfrequently want of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism, the constancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence; that your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual; that the free Constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained; that its administration in every department may be stamped with wisdom and virtue; that, in fine, the happiness of the people of these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing as will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection, and adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger to it.
Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the apprehension of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me all-important to the permanency of your felicity as a people. These will be offered to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his counsel. Nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a former and not dissimilar occasion.
Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment.
The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts.
For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts of common dangers, sufferings, and successes.
But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more immediately to your interest. Here every portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the union of the whole.
The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds in the productions of the latter great additional resources of maritime and commercial enterprise and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The South, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow and its commerce expand. Turning partly into its own channels the seamen of the North, it finds its particular navigation invigorated; and, while it contributes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the general mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection of a maritime strength, to which itself is unequally adapted. The East, in a like intercourse with the West, already finds, and in the progressive improvement of interior communications by land and water, will more and more find a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad, or manufactures at home. The West derives from the East supplies requisite to its growth and comfort, and, what is perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own productions to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as one nation. Any other tenure by which the West can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connection with any foreign power, must be intrinsically precarious.
While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular interest in union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find in the united mass of means and efforts greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from external danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations; and, what is of inestimable value, they must derive from union an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves, which so frequently afflict neighboring countries not tied together by the same governments, which their own rival ships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate and embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. In this sense it is that your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other.
These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the Union as a primary object of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere? Let experience solve it. To listen to mere speculation in such a case were criminal. We are authorized to hope that a proper organization of the whole with the auxiliary agency of governments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to union, affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who in any quarter may endeavor to weaken its bands.
In contemplating the causes which may disturb our Union, it occurs as matter of serious concern that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discriminations, Northern and Southern, Atlantic and Western; whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views. One of the expedients of party to acquire influence within particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heartburnings which spring from these misrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our Western country have lately had a useful lesson on this head; they have seen, in the negotiation by the Executive, and in the unanimous ratification by the Senate, of the treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at that event, throughout the United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions propagated among them of a policy in the General Government and in the Atlantic States unfriendly to their interests in regard to the Mississippi; they have been witnesses to the formation of two treaties, that with Great Britain, and that with Spain, which secure to them everything they could desire, in respect to our foreign relations, towards confirming their prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the Union by which they were procured ? Will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who would sever them from their brethren and connect them with aliens?
To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a government for the whole is indispensable. No alliance, however strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute; they must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions which all alliances in all times have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay, by the adoption of a constitution of government better calculated than your former for an intimate union, and for the efficacious management of your common concerns. This government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government.
All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests.
However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.
Towards the preservation of your government, and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be to effect, in the forms of the Constitution, alterations which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited, remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true character of governments as of other human institutions; that experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution of a country; that facility in changes, upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual change, from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion; and remember, especially, that for the efficient management of your common interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty is indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of the society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property.
I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.
This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.
The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.
Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.
It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.
There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.
It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution in those entrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositaries, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern; some of them in our country and under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit, which the use can at any time yield.
Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who that is a sincere friend to it can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric?
Promote then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.
As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible, avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it, avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertion in time of peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives, but it is necessary that public opinion should co-operate. To facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in mind that towards the payment of debts there must be revenue; that to have revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant; that the intrinsic embarrassment, inseparable from the selection of the proper objects (which is always a choice of difficulties), ought to be a decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the government in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining revenue, which the public exigencies may at any time dictate.
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 which 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?
In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence, frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. The government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would reject; at other times it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations, has been the victim.
So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation), facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding, with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation.
As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils. Such an attachment of a small or weak towards a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter.
Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.
The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none; or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.
Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one people under an efficient government. the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel.
Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor or caprice?
It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them.
Taking care always to keep ourselves by suitable establishments on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies.
Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing (with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government to support them) conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary, and liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied, as experience and circumstances shall dictate; constantly keeping in view that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from another; that it must pay with a portion of its independence for whatever it may accept under that character; that, by such acceptance, it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalents for nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion, which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.
In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish; that they will control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our nation from running the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations. But, if I may even flatter myself that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good; that they may now and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism; this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare, by which they have been dictated.
How far in the discharge of my official duties I have been guided by the principles which have been delineated, the public records and other evidences of my conduct must witness to you and to the world. To myself, the assurance of my own conscience is, that I have at least believed myself to be guided by them.
In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my proclamation of the twenty-second of April, I793, is the index of my plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that of your representatives in both houses of Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually governed me, uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it.
After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound in duty and interest to take, a neutral position. Having taken it, I determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it, with moderation, perseverance, and firmness.
The considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct, it is not necessary on this occasion to detail. I will only observe that, according to my understanding of the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the belligerent powers, has been virtually admitted by all.
The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without anything more, from the obligation which justice and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace and amity towards other nations.
The inducements of interest for observing that conduct will best be referred to your own reflections and experience. With me a predominant motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress without interruption to that degree of strength and consistency which is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes.
Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence; and that, after forty five years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest.
Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and actuated by that fervent love towards it, which is so natural to a man who views in it the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several generations, I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government, the ever-favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers.
Geo. Washington.
Washington's Farewell Address 1796
Friends and Citizens:
The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made.
I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be assured that this resolution has not been taken without a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his country; and that in withdrawing the tender of service, which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your future interest, no deficiency of grateful respect for your past kindness, but am supported by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both.
The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office to which your suffrages have twice called me have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty and to a deference for what appeared to be your desire. I constantly hoped that it would have been much earlier in my power, consistently with motives which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement from which I had been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this, previous to the last election, had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to you; but mature reflection on the then perplexed and critical posture of our affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon the idea.
I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible with the sentiment of duty or propriety, and am persuaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my services, that, in the present circumstances of our country, you will not disapprove my determination to retire.
The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous trust were explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I will only say that I have, with good intentions, contributed towards the organization and administration of the government the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious in the outset of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that if any circumstances have given peculiar value to my services, they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe that, while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it.
In looking forward to the moment which is intended to terminate the career of my public life, my feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved country for the many honors it has conferred upon me; still more for the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me; and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment, by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country from these services, let it always be remembered to your praise, and as an instructive example in our annals, that under circumstances in which the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to mislead, amidst appearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging, in situations in which not unfrequently want of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism, the constancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence; that your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual; that the free Constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained; that its administration in every department may be stamped with wisdom and virtue; that, in fine, the happiness of the people of these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing as will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection, and adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger to it.
Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the apprehension of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me all-important to the permanency of your felicity as a people. These will be offered to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his counsel. Nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a former and not dissimilar occasion.
Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment.
The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts.
For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts of common dangers, sufferings, and successes.
But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more immediately to your interest. Here every portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the union of the whole.
The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds in the productions of the latter great additional resources of maritime and commercial enterprise and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The South, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow and its commerce expand. Turning partly into its own channels the seamen of the North, it finds its particular navigation invigorated; and, while it contributes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the general mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection of a maritime strength, to which itself is unequally adapted. The East, in a like intercourse with the West, already finds, and in the progressive improvement of interior communications by land and water, will more and more find a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad, or manufactures at home. The West derives from the East supplies requisite to its growth and comfort, and, what is perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own productions to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as one nation. Any other tenure by which the West can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connection with any foreign power, must be intrinsically precarious.
While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular interest in union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find in the united mass of means and efforts greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from external danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations; and, what is of inestimable value, they must derive from union an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves, which so frequently afflict neighboring countries not tied together by the same governments, which their own rival ships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate and embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. In this sense it is that your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other.
These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the Union as a primary object of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere? Let experience solve it. To listen to mere speculation in such a case were criminal. We are authorized to hope that a proper organization of the whole with the auxiliary agency of governments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to union, affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who in any quarter may endeavor to weaken its bands.
In contemplating the causes which may disturb our Union, it occurs as matter of serious concern that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discriminations, Northern and Southern, Atlantic and Western; whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views. One of the expedients of party to acquire influence within particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heartburnings which spring from these misrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our Western country have lately had a useful lesson on this head; they have seen, in the negotiation by the Executive, and in the unanimous ratification by the Senate, of the treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at that event, throughout the United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions propagated among them of a policy in the General Government and in the Atlantic States unfriendly to their interests in regard to the Mississippi; they have been witnesses to the formation of two treaties, that with Great Britain, and that with Spain, which secure to them everything they could desire, in respect to our foreign relations, towards confirming their prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the Union by which they were procured ? Will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who would sever them from their brethren and connect them with aliens?
To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a government for the whole is indispensable. No alliance, however strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute; they must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions which all alliances in all times have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay, by the adoption of a constitution of government better calculated than your former for an intimate union, and for the efficacious management of your common concerns. This government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government.
All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests.
However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.
Towards the preservation of your government, and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be to effect, in the forms of the Constitution, alterations which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited, remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true character of governments as of other human institutions; that experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution of a country; that facility in changes, upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual change, from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion; and remember, especially, that for the efficient management of your common interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty is indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of the society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property.
I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.
This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.
The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.
Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.
It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.
There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.
It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution in those entrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositaries, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern; some of them in our country and under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit, which the use can at any time yield.
Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who that is a sincere friend to it can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric?
Promote then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.
As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible, avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it, avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertion in time of peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives, but it is necessary that public opinion should co-operate. To facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in mind that towards the payment of debts there must be revenue; that to have revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant; that the intrinsic embarrassment, inseparable from the selection of the proper objects (which is always a choice of difficulties), ought to be a decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the government in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining revenue, which the public exigencies may at any time dictate.
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 which 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?
In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence, frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. The government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would reject; at other times it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations, has been the victim.
So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation), facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding, with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation.
As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils. Such an attachment of a small or weak towards a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter.
Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.
The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none; or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.
Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one people under an efficient government. the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel.
Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor or caprice?
It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them.
Taking care always to keep ourselves by suitable establishments on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies.
Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing (with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government to support them) conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary, and liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied, as experience and circumstances shall dictate; constantly keeping in view that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from another; that it must pay with a portion of its independence for whatever it may accept under that character; that, by such acceptance, it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalents for nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion, which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.
In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish; that they will control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our nation from running the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations. But, if I may even flatter myself that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good; that they may now and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism; this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare, by which they have been dictated.
How far in the discharge of my official duties I have been guided by the principles which have been delineated, the public records and other evidences of my conduct must witness to you and to the world. To myself, the assurance of my own conscience is, that I have at least believed myself to be guided by them.
In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my proclamation of the twenty-second of April, I793, is the index of my plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that of your representatives in both houses of Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually governed me, uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it.
After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound in duty and interest to take, a neutral position. Having taken it, I determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it, with moderation, perseverance, and firmness.
The considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct, it is not necessary on this occasion to detail. I will only observe that, according to my understanding of the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the belligerent powers, has been virtually admitted by all.
The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without anything more, from the obligation which justice and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace and amity towards other nations.
The inducements of interest for observing that conduct will best be referred to your own reflections and experience. With me a predominant motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress without interruption to that degree of strength and consistency which is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes.
Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence; and that, after forty five years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest.
Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and actuated by that fervent love towards it, which is so natural to a man who views in it the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several generations, I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government, the ever-favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers.
Geo. Washington.
Friday, May 21, 2010
The Robin Hood Factor
THE ROBIN HOOD FACTOR
In the story of Robin Hood that many of us know well, Robin Hood is a person who is watching out for the “little guy” who can’t take care of himself due to the big oppressive king and others around the king who have used the system to pillage those “less fortunate” than they. This is the source of why Robin takes it upon himself to get a group of men who will work with him to see that they, “ Rob form the rich to give to the poor.” This is nothing less than the principle of redistribution of wealth that we see going on in this world today in various countries and hierarchies in the world, we see this story line played out under many oppressive rulers and dictators over the centuries as well.
In America today we see this trying to be woven into our fabric by the present administration; the only problem with this is that we are not like other nations; we are not under a dictatorship according to our national treasures that guide and shape this republic. We are a free people who fought for our freedom many times during the history of this nation and continue to fight to this day. We have fought a number of times on this soil for the freedoms we enjoy; this includes but is not limited to the American Revolution, The French & Indian War, The Alamo, The Civil War, The Civil Rights Movement and the War on Terror. When powerful and well-established countries have crumbled throughout history it has never been from an outside force, although they have contributed to the final fall, it has not been from political unrest, though that has been present as well, no, it has been from the indifference of it’s people who have allowed leadership to put itself in place and to usurp the will of the people, therefore it is from within, that once great nations have fallen. This scenario has been played out in many eras in the timeline of mans history we see it in the empires of the Romans, Constantinople, the Byzantines and the Ottomans’ to name a few.
In America we, as a people, are generous and we give out of the resources that we have to those less fortunate than we or to those who are going through tough times as we have in times past. We can, and do, help other out because we ourselves have been there before and know how it feels to be down but not out of the fight. We understand that God has blessed us with things and with freedom in this world to use for his glory and honor. We take the things that He blesses us with and bless others around us and in doing this we glorify God. This is one of the things that make this a great nation and cause others around the world to want to come to these shores for their opportunity at blessings and freedom.
The present administration desires to take the freedoms we enjoy and turn them against us to enslave us in their ideology of what freedom is to them. This freedom that they want is nothing more than our enslavement to their system and their agenda of a “Socialist Utopia”(i.e. Marx, Hitler, Mao, Chavez) We as free people need to make our voice known in as many ways as we can to our local state and federal elected officials so that they who are servants of the people and not to the special interest groups will hear our voice loud and clear, “YOU work for US!!! In the words of Jesus Christ, “Freely you have received, freely give” Go out today and make a difference in someone’s life, not because you have to or were told to do so, but because it is the right thing to do, it blesses others and you also will get a blessing by doing that.
In the story of Robin Hood that many of us know well, Robin Hood is a person who is watching out for the “little guy” who can’t take care of himself due to the big oppressive king and others around the king who have used the system to pillage those “less fortunate” than they. This is the source of why Robin takes it upon himself to get a group of men who will work with him to see that they, “ Rob form the rich to give to the poor.” This is nothing less than the principle of redistribution of wealth that we see going on in this world today in various countries and hierarchies in the world, we see this story line played out under many oppressive rulers and dictators over the centuries as well.
In America today we see this trying to be woven into our fabric by the present administration; the only problem with this is that we are not like other nations; we are not under a dictatorship according to our national treasures that guide and shape this republic. We are a free people who fought for our freedom many times during the history of this nation and continue to fight to this day. We have fought a number of times on this soil for the freedoms we enjoy; this includes but is not limited to the American Revolution, The French & Indian War, The Alamo, The Civil War, The Civil Rights Movement and the War on Terror. When powerful and well-established countries have crumbled throughout history it has never been from an outside force, although they have contributed to the final fall, it has not been from political unrest, though that has been present as well, no, it has been from the indifference of it’s people who have allowed leadership to put itself in place and to usurp the will of the people, therefore it is from within, that once great nations have fallen. This scenario has been played out in many eras in the timeline of mans history we see it in the empires of the Romans, Constantinople, the Byzantines and the Ottomans’ to name a few.
In America we, as a people, are generous and we give out of the resources that we have to those less fortunate than we or to those who are going through tough times as we have in times past. We can, and do, help other out because we ourselves have been there before and know how it feels to be down but not out of the fight. We understand that God has blessed us with things and with freedom in this world to use for his glory and honor. We take the things that He blesses us with and bless others around us and in doing this we glorify God. This is one of the things that make this a great nation and cause others around the world to want to come to these shores for their opportunity at blessings and freedom.
The present administration desires to take the freedoms we enjoy and turn them against us to enslave us in their ideology of what freedom is to them. This freedom that they want is nothing more than our enslavement to their system and their agenda of a “Socialist Utopia”(i.e. Marx, Hitler, Mao, Chavez) We as free people need to make our voice known in as many ways as we can to our local state and federal elected officials so that they who are servants of the people and not to the special interest groups will hear our voice loud and clear, “YOU work for US!!! In the words of Jesus Christ, “Freely you have received, freely give” Go out today and make a difference in someone’s life, not because you have to or were told to do so, but because it is the right thing to do, it blesses others and you also will get a blessing by doing that.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Why such a big deal about the Constitution?
Why such a big deal about the Constitution?
Why is such a big deal being made over the Constitution and weather we should follow it or do away with it? Is it old, out dated, archaic, dead, past it’s use? Is it living, active, vibrant and some thing that we should use as a tool that changes with the times and the culture? Or is it something that is set in stone and can never change to meet the times or the challenges of the society we live in? In light of these questions should we look at all the other founding documents in the same ways?
Let’s take a look at the each perspective of the argument for a moment. One side of the argument states that the constitution and our founding documents are old and out dated and need to be done away with and replaced with some other form of “up to date, contemporary documentation” to guide our nation by, such as Shariah Law. There are even politicians that have been caught on tape as saying, “We don’t worry about the Constitution, we make the rules as we go because we are in power and can do what we want to do.” With an attitude and a mind set like that I’m curious if they are really looking out for the best interests of this nation and it’s people. Do they really care what the Constitution has to say or have they even read it at least once? People and especially politicians who side with this train of thought are a danger to the very fabric of this nation. We as Americans are a people who get up each day and do what we have to do to make a living for our families and help out our neighbors in need, not because we are told to or because we are forced to through redistribution of wealth, but we do it out of compassion in our hearts and love for our fellow man. This idea of compassion for our neighbor is one of the things that has made America so great at home and around the world
Another viewpoint on the Constitution is that it is a tool to use since it is a living and vibrant document and that it must change to meet the times of the culture. Those who espouse this point of view argue that the constitution is only a skeleton and that the rest of the body of our society has to add to it as the society grows and evolves. The only problem that I see with this is that changes like this would be subject to the dictates and the leanings of those who are out for their own interests and the interests of others who can “afford” to have their argument heard by those who can wield power for them. This type of a mind set is what we see going on in the “politics as usual” world of those who think they are protected by the beltway around Washington D. C.
To others in this land it is something that is set in stone and can never change to meet the times or the challenges of the society we live in. For those who lean this way there is no room for any change and the old ways are the best ways and the proven ways, the ways that have got us to the point that we are at now. This way has worked for us up to this point and it will work for us from here on out.
Where do you stand on this issue as an American? The decision that you make will be the one that will shape the way you see the world that you live in and how you treat others around you and how you expect others around you to treat you.
Why is such a big deal being made over the Constitution and weather we should follow it or do away with it? Is it old, out dated, archaic, dead, past it’s use? Is it living, active, vibrant and some thing that we should use as a tool that changes with the times and the culture? Or is it something that is set in stone and can never change to meet the times or the challenges of the society we live in? In light of these questions should we look at all the other founding documents in the same ways?
Let’s take a look at the each perspective of the argument for a moment. One side of the argument states that the constitution and our founding documents are old and out dated and need to be done away with and replaced with some other form of “up to date, contemporary documentation” to guide our nation by, such as Shariah Law. There are even politicians that have been caught on tape as saying, “We don’t worry about the Constitution, we make the rules as we go because we are in power and can do what we want to do.” With an attitude and a mind set like that I’m curious if they are really looking out for the best interests of this nation and it’s people. Do they really care what the Constitution has to say or have they even read it at least once? People and especially politicians who side with this train of thought are a danger to the very fabric of this nation. We as Americans are a people who get up each day and do what we have to do to make a living for our families and help out our neighbors in need, not because we are told to or because we are forced to through redistribution of wealth, but we do it out of compassion in our hearts and love for our fellow man. This idea of compassion for our neighbor is one of the things that has made America so great at home and around the world
Another viewpoint on the Constitution is that it is a tool to use since it is a living and vibrant document and that it must change to meet the times of the culture. Those who espouse this point of view argue that the constitution is only a skeleton and that the rest of the body of our society has to add to it as the society grows and evolves. The only problem that I see with this is that changes like this would be subject to the dictates and the leanings of those who are out for their own interests and the interests of others who can “afford” to have their argument heard by those who can wield power for them. This type of a mind set is what we see going on in the “politics as usual” world of those who think they are protected by the beltway around Washington D. C.
To others in this land it is something that is set in stone and can never change to meet the times or the challenges of the society we live in. For those who lean this way there is no room for any change and the old ways are the best ways and the proven ways, the ways that have got us to the point that we are at now. This way has worked for us up to this point and it will work for us from here on out.
Where do you stand on this issue as an American? The decision that you make will be the one that will shape the way you see the world that you live in and how you treat others around you and how you expect others around you to treat you.
Monday, May 17, 2010
June 1st
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I’m sending out this email due to a great need that I see in the history of our nation at this time. There continues to be various attacks upon the very Christian foundations that have made this country great for the last 234 years. We have gone from being a beacon of light and hope to the nations, to being a term of ridicule and scorn in the world. We need to get back to the things that made this nation notable; namely a deep trust and respect for the reputation of our God in our own personal lives and the life of this nation, home and abroad. We need to go back to the elementary building blocks that have made this nation remarkable; dependence upon God as our only Sovereign and King, His bible as our only textbook for life and his Holy Spirit as our only teacher for how to live this life and to keep in step with God.Our nation has strayed so far away from the intention of our founding fathers that they would not recognize this land if they were alive to see it today.
Our founders did three things as they worked through the issues of their day that are a good roadmap for us today; 1) They sought the face of God Almighty on a regular daily basis, individually corporately and governmentally 2) They petitioned their rulers with wisdom from God, with keenness and sharpness of mind and with the Spirit of God strengthening them 3) Lastly they moved out in action and did what they had to do to see truth rule in the land and tyranny turned back.
In the words of Rev. Samuel Langdon one month after the battle of Lexington,“Vice will increase with the riches and glory of an empire; and this generally tends to corrupt the Constitution and in time bring on its dissolution. This may be considered not only as the natural effect of vice, but a religious judgment from Heaven, especially upon a nation which has been favored with the blessing of religion and liberty and is guilty of undervaluing them…”
It is with this in mind and considering the state of the republic that I call on each church, synagogue, temple, place of prayer, group of believers, etc. to take up the arms of the Spirit of God in intercession for this nation. God tells us in the Bible that, “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked way; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins, and will heal their land. “ God tells us that IF we will humble, pray, seek, turn THEN he will hear, forgive, and heal.
Please join me and many other believers in the Lord Jesus Christ on June 1, 2010 for “Prayer the Hope of the Nation” as we do spiritual battle for this nation before the throne of God in heaven.Please spread this as far and wide to as many people, places and groups as you can and don’t be concerned about over doing it by them getting this two or three times. We need to bombard Heaven on behalf of this republic with as many voices of intercession and supplication as possible. Keep in touch through Face book (Prayer the Hope of the Nation) and Twitter (Twitter.com/Prayer the Hope of the Nation)
In the service of Christ,
Bill Treadway
I’m sending out this email due to a great need that I see in the history of our nation at this time. There continues to be various attacks upon the very Christian foundations that have made this country great for the last 234 years. We have gone from being a beacon of light and hope to the nations, to being a term of ridicule and scorn in the world. We need to get back to the things that made this nation notable; namely a deep trust and respect for the reputation of our God in our own personal lives and the life of this nation, home and abroad. We need to go back to the elementary building blocks that have made this nation remarkable; dependence upon God as our only Sovereign and King, His bible as our only textbook for life and his Holy Spirit as our only teacher for how to live this life and to keep in step with God.Our nation has strayed so far away from the intention of our founding fathers that they would not recognize this land if they were alive to see it today.
Our founders did three things as they worked through the issues of their day that are a good roadmap for us today; 1) They sought the face of God Almighty on a regular daily basis, individually corporately and governmentally 2) They petitioned their rulers with wisdom from God, with keenness and sharpness of mind and with the Spirit of God strengthening them 3) Lastly they moved out in action and did what they had to do to see truth rule in the land and tyranny turned back.
In the words of Rev. Samuel Langdon one month after the battle of Lexington,“Vice will increase with the riches and glory of an empire; and this generally tends to corrupt the Constitution and in time bring on its dissolution. This may be considered not only as the natural effect of vice, but a religious judgment from Heaven, especially upon a nation which has been favored with the blessing of religion and liberty and is guilty of undervaluing them…”
It is with this in mind and considering the state of the republic that I call on each church, synagogue, temple, place of prayer, group of believers, etc. to take up the arms of the Spirit of God in intercession for this nation. God tells us in the Bible that, “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked way; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins, and will heal their land. “ God tells us that IF we will humble, pray, seek, turn THEN he will hear, forgive, and heal.
Please join me and many other believers in the Lord Jesus Christ on June 1, 2010 for “Prayer the Hope of the Nation” as we do spiritual battle for this nation before the throne of God in heaven.Please spread this as far and wide to as many people, places and groups as you can and don’t be concerned about over doing it by them getting this two or three times. We need to bombard Heaven on behalf of this republic with as many voices of intercession and supplication as possible. Keep in touch through Face book (Prayer the Hope of the Nation) and Twitter (Twitter.com/Prayer the Hope of the Nation)
In the service of Christ,
Bill Treadway
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