The Kanzas news., 1859-02-19


kept his integrity. and if be did wrong in
his wrath, be asked the mans forgiveness
when the wrath was over. he had no sub
tlety, no cunning. no duplicity. He hsted
/ liars-it was great merit. He withdrew
from Jefferson when be found him fFaudu-
lent, and from his secretary. Mr.. Lee. whom
he loved as his own brother, when he found
him false to some small trust. He would
not give Aaron Burr an Office. because. cal
though he has got great intellect, he is an
intriguer.'' "a la8 .--as sd
There was nothing little, nothing mean
in him. There ives nothing selfish in his
ambition. He rises above the most of men
about him, in the.camp, in the cabinet, as the
tall pine tree above the little bushes at its foot.
Some of the officers of the army, aided by
monarchical men in the States, wanted to
make Washington King, but he pushed the
crown away from him with conscientious
horror In all the history of mankind,
where do you find such an example of for
bearance ? A triumphant soldier refusing
power, preferring to go back and till his
ground ! e4ip
"His means were honest as his ends"
/ I must say word of his religious char
acter, for that is the great deep thing in
him. Here there appears the same peculiar
ity as in his intellectual and moral charac-
ter. He had much of the principle, little
of the sentiment of religion. He ewas more
moral than he was pious. In early life, a
certain respect for ecclesiastical forms made
him vestryman at two churches. This
respect for outward forms, with ministers
and reporters for newspapers, very often
passes for the substance of religion. It
does not appear that Washington took a
deep and spontaneous delight in religious
emotions, more than in poetry, in works of
art, or in the beauty of nature. But he had
devout reverence for the First Cause of all
things-a deep, sublime and unfailing
trust in that Providence which watches
over the affairs of nations and of men, and
is sure to give the just the ultimate victory.
find his religion in his stern determination
to do his duty to his God, with his habitual
reverence for that holy name. In the last
years of his life, from 1776 TO the time of
his death, he partoek of the Lords Supper
but once. Ministers have taken their re
venge for the omission, and have denied
| his religious character. It is not easy to-
ascertain in detail his theological opinions,
for these he kept to himself. In one of his
addresses he speaks of the 'tpure and be-
nign light of revelation, !" and of the "Diyine
Author of our blessed religion" Silence is
! figure of speech, and in the later years of
his life, I suppose his theological opinions
were those of John Adams, DR.. Franklin
and Thomas Jefferson, only he was not a
speculative man. and did not care to publish
them to the world.
| Anxious to claim him for the Christian
Church, ministers have rested his Christian
character on the fact that he whipped men
for swearing, that he had prayers in Fort
Necessity in 1854, was yestryman in his
youth, and once in high Office, attended the
Communion, and partook of what is called
the Sacrament. If they are satisfied with
such proof, am content /; but find the
proof of Washington's religion in bis ye-
| raciousness, in his adherence of falsehood,
in that moral courage which never failed
him, and in that matchless integrity, where
he stands superior to the rest of mankind
Above all, I find it in his relation to the na-
ton greatest crime. He was born a slave
holder, he was brought up with slavery all
about HIN, slaves fell to him by marriage, the
entailed property of his wife. Washington
wished to get rid of it, but could not The
African slave trade was thought as honora-
ble as dealing in land, cotton, wheat or oil.
Washington always disliked slavery; thought
it wrong. wicked.
In June, l774, he was chairman of the
committee that drafted the Fairfax Resolves,
and they declared that no slaves ought to be
imported into any of the British colonies
on this continent. They express their wish
TO have an entire stop put forever to this
wicked, cruel and unnatural work" When
Lafayette bought plantation on one of the
French islands, for the purpose of emanci-
pating the slaves, Washington wrote to
him should be happy to join you in so
noble work. Would to God like spirit
would infuse itself into the minds of the |
people of Virginia ! But despair of it. |
By degrees it might be done. Decidedly,
it ought to be effected, and that by the leg
islaLiYe authority He sought TO pro-
mote the emancipation of all slaves in Viz /
ginia. This could not be done. AT last,
by his will, he sets free all his own bond
men, their deliverance to take place a the
death of his wife-it could not before; and
he charges his executors 70 see that this
clause respecting the slaves be Teligiously /
fulfilled, without evasion, neglect or delay.
Here he was superior to his age; here
| find proof of his religious character. III
| Christianity Be more than one of the hum
bugs imposed upon agFoauinS wofius y
because It teaches religion which consists
in piesy, the natural love of God, aud NOR
ality. the natural keeping of his laws; and
if piety and morality be religion, then who
shall dare te charge Washington with lack
of Christianity? Ministers who fawn upon
wickedness. and statesmen who enact inaiq>
uity into lawl Before he left the earth, he
wrenehed the letters from OF each bond
mans foet, and as he began his flight to
heaven. he dropped them into The bottom
less PitTWhers they who seek; perhaps may
End ! [Applause. -. .s
After stating some facts TO show that
Washington, although in character as mnch