has granted us, the General directs, that the army remain in its present quarters, and that the Chaplains perform divine service with their several corps and brigades; and earnestly exhorts all officers and soldiers, whose absence is not indispensably necessary, to attend with reverence the solemnities of the day.

1777.

Divine service is to be performed to-morrow,* in the several brigades and divisions.

The Commander-in-chief earnestly recommends, that the troops not on duty should universally attend, with that seriousness of deportment and gratitude of heart, which the recognition of such reiterated and astonishing interpositions of Providence demands of

us.

1781.

PRIVATE WORSHIP, AND PRACTICAL PIETY.

.....

I have often been told by Colonel Ben Temple, (of King William county, (Virginia,) who was one of his aids in the French and Indian war, that, on sudden and unexpected visits into his marquee, he has more than once found him on his knees at his devotions. Rev. M. L. WEEMS, 1808.

observed, [at Valley Forge,] The Father of his country

The Commander-in-chief of the American armies was constantly to retire, for the purpose of secret devotion. went alone, and sought strength and guidance from the God of armies and of light. The independence of our country was laid, not only in valor, and patriotism, and wisdom, but in prayer. ALBERT BARNES, D. D.

On Sundays, unless the weather was uncommonly severe, the President and Mrs. Washington attended divine service at Christ Church, [Philadelphia;] and in the evenings, the President read to Mrs. Washington, in her chamber, a sermon, or some portion from the sacred writings. No visitors, with the exception of Mr. Speaker Trumbull, were admitted on Sundays.

GLORGE W. P. CUSTIS, Grandson of Mrs. Washington.

* October 21st, 1781, just after the capitulation of Lord Cornwallis.

I accidentally witnessed Washington's private devotions in his library, both morr. ing and evening. On these occasions, I saw him in a kneeling posture, with a Bible open before him. I believe such to have been his daily practice.

ROBERT LEWIS, nephew, and private secretary of Washington.

General Braddock was buried in his cloak, the same night, on the road, to elude the search of the Indians. Washington, on the testimony of an old soldier, read the funeral service over his remains, by the light of a torch. E. C. M'GUIRE, D. D.

My mother resided, two years, at Mount Vernon, after her marriage with John Parke Custis, the only son of Mrs. Washington. I have heard her say, that General Washington always received the sacrament with my grandmother, before the Revolution. MISS CUSTIS, twenty years an inmate of Washington's fumily.

From the lips of a lady of undoubted veracity, yet living, and a worthy communicant of the Church, I received the interesting fact, that, soon after the close of the revolutionary war, she saw him partake of the consecrated symbols of the body and blood of Christ, in Trinity Church, in the city of New York.

GEORGE T. CHAPMAN, D. D.

We esteem it a peculiar happiness, to behold, in our Chief Magistrate, a steady, uniform, avowed friend of the Christian religion; who has commenced his administration, in rational and exalted sentiments of piety, and who, in his private conduct, adorns the doctrine of the Gospel of Christ.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, May, 1789.

ORDINANCES.

The pew I hold in the Episcopal Church at Alexandria, shall be charged with an annual rent of five pounds, Virginia money; and I promise to pay annually, to the minister and vestry of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Fairfax parish. April 25th, 1785.

VITAL PIETY.

I shall always strive, to prove a faithful and impartial patron of genuine, vital religion.

1789.

FASTING, HUMILIATION, AND PRAYER,

June 1st, Wednesday.-Went to Church, and fasted all day.

1774.

HABITUAL GRATITUDE FOR GOD'S BOUNTIES.

We are not graceless † at Mount Vernon.

FOLLOWING THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST.

Humility and a pacific temper of mind, were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our

blessed religion; . . . . without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope. to be a happy nation.

GENEROUS FORGIVENESS OF ENEMIES.

When the order issued, for embarking the troops in Boston, no electric shock, no sudden flash of light

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* The Virginia House of Burgesses had set apart this day, as a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, devoutly to implore the Divine interposition, for averting the heavy calamity which threatened destruction to their civil rights, and the evils of civil war, and to give them one heart and one mind, firmly to oppose, by all just and proper means, every injury to American rights."

He always said grace at table.

ning, in a word, not even the last trump, could have struck them with greater consternation. They were at their wit's end; and, conscious of their black ingratitude, chose to commit themselves to the mercy of the winds and waves, in a tempestuous season, rather than meet their offended countrymen ; with this declaration I am told they have done it,that if they could have thought, that the most abject submission would have procured peace for them, they Iwould have humbled themselves in the dust, and kissed the rod that should be held out for chastisement.

Unhappy wretches!

Deluded mortals ! Would

it not be good to grant a generous amnesty, and conquer these people, by a GENEROUS FORGIVENESS?

4. CHRISTIAN MISSIONS

The Pale Faces came, and they said, "You fought with us; you have forfeited your right to this land and must go away." But General Washington said, "Come back, and remain in your land, and make your homes with us." Then the Prophet said, "The white men are bad, and cannot dwell in the regions of the Great Spirit, except General Washington." PETER WILSON,

A native Iroquois, before the New York Historical Society, 1847.

MISSIONS AMONG THE INDIANS.

A system corresponding with the mild principles of religion and philanthropy toward an unenlightened * The royalists.

race of men, whose happiness materially depends on the conduct of the United States, would be as honorable to the national character, as conformable to the dictates of sound policy.

1791.

I am clearly in sentiment with her Ladyship,* that Christianity will never make any progress among the Indians, or work any considerable reformation in their principles, until they are brought to a state of greater civilization. And the mode by which she means to attempt this, as far as I have been able to give it consideration, is as likely to succeed, as any other that could have been devised, and may, in time, effect the great and benevolent objects of her Ladyship's wishes. But that love of ease, impatience under any sort of control, and disinclination to any sort of pursuit but those of hunting and of war, would discourage any person, possessed of less piety, zeal, and philanthropy, than are characteristic of Lady Huntington.

1785.

In proportion as the general government of the United States shall acquire strength by duration, it is probable they may have it in their power, to extend a salutary influence to the Aborigines in the extremities of their territory. In the mean time, it will be a desirable thing, for the protection of the Union, to co-operate, as far as circumstances may conveniently

* The Countess of Huntington, who proposed to establish Christian settlements among the Indians.