The Savannah morning news., 1902-06-01
wAsHINGTON's RELIGION.

WASHINGTON'S RELIGION.
1conoclasts flourish in this age. They
hate to see a great figure upon a ped
estal. 1t is their delight to smash the
| idols that have been held in reverence.
Not even the great George Washing
| ton is safe from their attacks. Not
content with creating a doubt with re-
| spect to the cherry tree story, they
are now trying to show that he
was not a Christian. Unfortunately,
| there remains very little evidence go
ing to show that Washington was an
adherent of the Christian religion. The
iconoclasts have pitched upon this as
evidence that he was not an adherent
and follower of that religion.
1t is known, of course, that he was a
vestryman of an Episcopal church in
! Virginia; but it is alleged the office
was rather a political than a religious
one at that time. The vestry was real
| ly the governing body of the county.
| BY dominating the vestry, Washing
ton dominated the county's politics. He
is said to have been a regular attend
ant at church, while at home but
away from home he did not attend SER
vices regularly. In Washington's day
| church attendance was a social func-
ton, and the country gentleman who
failed to occupy his pew with his fam
lily would quickly forfeit public esteem.
Washington's home church was the
Episcopal, but when he went to the va
riods cities he would attend the Catho-
lie, Presbyterian or Quaker services as
| frequently as the Episcopal. He never
hesitated to travel on Sunday, accord
ing to an article by Gen. Greeley; he
thought it quite proper for his negroes
to go fishing on that day, and it is
matter of record that he made at least
one contract on Sunday. The Rev.
James Abercrombie has written that
he once found it necessary to reprove
President Washington for uniformly
turning his back upon the celebration
of the Lords Supper" DIR. Abercrom-
bic is also reported as saying to Rev.
DR.. Wilson: "Sir, Washington is a
Deist." Robert Dale owen and Mon
cure D. Conway reach the conclusion
that he was a Deist. The Rev. Dr.
investigating the religious side of
| Washington's life, says: my re-
searches do not enable me to affirm
that Washington, on his death bed
gave evidence of Christian belief" In
Thomas Jefferson's Memoirs it is said,
| he Of
Washington never did say a word On
the subject in any of his public papers,
| except in his valedictory letter to the
governors of the states, when he re-
signed his commission in the army
wherein he speaks of the benign in
fluence of the Christian religion"
Bishop Satterlee recently made the
statement in the course of a sermon
that Washington was a communicate
and regular attendant of the Episco-
pal church. The Rev. DR.. R. H. Nc
Kim in a sermon said the same thing,
and added that he was a strict OBJ
server of the Sabbath. Mr.. Archibald
Hopkins of Washington, D. c., writing
to the New York Tribune recently, said
the only evidence he had been able to
discover to show that Washington was
a communicate was contained in let
ter from Mrs. Washington's grand
daughter. Nellie Gusts, who said that
she had heard her mother say that
Gen. Washington always received the
sacrament with my grandmother be-
fore the Revolution"
1t seems strange that this contro-
versy should have broken out at this
late day. Washington, father of mis-
country as he was, was not without
his political enemies. If his charac-
ter had been vulnerable. if political
capital could have been made by ex-
plotting his religion, or lack of relig-
ion, it seems that those energies would
have made the most of it, and have
left some clear record bearing upon
| the matter.