If Washington Were Here…

On the surface it might seem that we today have few of the problems of Valley Forge, and that they had few, if any, of ours. But the principles and the problems that pertain to people basically are quite constant. And if Washington were here, we can only conclude that he would not retreat from any principle which he turned to in facing the troubles of his own time.

If Washington were here, no doubt he would still say (as he did in his own day): “Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”

No doubt he would still say: “…cherish public credit…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 have occasioned.”

If Washington were here, no doubt, he would still say: The “Constitution…till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all.”…”It is important…that…those entrusted with…administration…confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres…[for[ usurpation…is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed.”

If Washington were here, he would still speak out against irreverence and profanity and would still seek divine help in prayerful humility and would still commit his own life and his country’s future to faith in free men.

Admittedly the land he led through some of its early anguish was not then and is not now a place of perfection. Admittedly the land he led still has its problems. (As have all other lands.) But with its problems, blessedly there is also unsurpassed opportunity. And should we ever become unconstructively critical, or overly discouraged by the problems, it would be well to ask ourselves if anyone honestly would want to turn back to the philosophies our fathers fled from, or if anyone honestly would want to turn toward those other philosophies which millions of men today would risk their very lives to leave?

If Washington were here, we believe he would say: Avoid the paths that lead to that which other men fervently wish they were free from. Avoid the principle of compulsion. Keep faith in freedom.