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Letter
from George Washington to the Governors of all of the States,
June 8, 1783.
This
letter, written by General Washington to the governors
of the various states, addressed the occasion of disbanding
the army. Reproduced here are the three closing paragraphs
of that letter. These paragraphs are commonly known
as "George Washington's Prayer." As a humble servant
of his country, George Washington expressed his desire
that the governors and the citizens of the states over
which they preside would seek to acquire the attributes
and characteristics of Jesus Christ, "the Divine Author
of our blessed religion." At this point, Washington
understood the great sacrifices that the citizens of
this country had made to gain their freedom. His hope
was that with this freedom, the people of this nation
would seek out charity, humility, temperance and other
God-like qualities that would help to create and preserve
a happy nation.
RJ&L
Religious Institutions Group
It
remains, then, to be my final and only request, that your
Excellency will communicate these sentiments to your legislature
at their next meeting, and that they may be considered as
the legacy of one, who has ardently wished, on all occasions,
to be useful to his country, and who, even in the shade
of retirement, will not fail to implore the Divine benediction
upon it.
I
now make it my earnest prayer that God would have you, and
the State over which you preside, in his holy protection;
that he would incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate
a spirit of subordination and obedience to government; to
entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another,
for their fellow citizens of the United States at large,
and particularly for their brethren who have served in the
field; and finally, that he would 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 an humble imitation
of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be
a happy nation.
I
have the honor to be, with much esteem and respect, Sir,
your Excellency's most obedient and most humble servant.
George
Washington
Letter
from George Washington to the Governors of the States (June
8, 1783), in 10 Writings of Washington, at 264-65
(Ford ed.).
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