THE BUILDER FEBRUARY 1918

THE RELIGION OF GEORGE WASHINGTON
BY BRO. GEORGE W. BAIRD, P.G.M., DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

IN the Grand Lodge Proceedings of South Carolina for 1915, on page
231, Brother W. S. Seipp, Senior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of
Maryland, is quoted as saying that on a certain occasion the
children of a certain Grand Master were entertaining some of their
schoolmates, when the name of George Washington was mentioned and
it was said among other things that he was a Mason.

To the surprise of the good Grand Master, one of the guests said
"Oh, no! George Washington was a Catholic," and on being questioned
stated further "that the brightest scholars in the world, the holy
fathers, had taught them in a parochial school that the immortal
George was not only a Catholic but that he, as Commander-in-Chief
of the Army, had ordered mass to be said every day in camp !"

Occasionally the question of the religion of Brother George
Washington has been raised and such claims as the above asserted,
which if repeated often enough may be believed. If we sanction by
silence such falsehoods we will only have ourselves to blame.

Of course, if children of parochial school age are taught such
falsehoods, it is no wonder that they should regard the rest of us
as mountebanks, all their lives. The mind is more plastic in the
primary school age, than ever after and if the "holy fathers" get
in their work on children at that age it is not difficult to
understand the reason for their superstition and their adhesion to
sorcery and to fairy tales, and it is also plainly to be seen why
Romanists are opposed to our American public school system.

Washington was brought up in the Episcopalian faith and always
attended that church. He was at one time a vestryman of Pohick
Church and was also a vestryman of Christ Church in Alexandria.
These are matters of church record and evidences of his prominence
in the Episcopalian faith.

The grandmother of the writer was thirteen years of age when
Washington died and we well remember hearing her tell that she
attended Pohick church on at least one occasion, and she was
positive that General Washington was particularly devout in his
worship and in his responses during this service.

History does not record that Washington "ordered mass to be said in
the camps every day," but from a Catholic authority (Sentinel of
Liberty, v. II, p. 145) we read of his suppressing the "Pope's Day"
in camp, i.e. the anniversary on which the Pope was burned in
effigy in certain camps of the Revolutionary Army. This practice of
burning the Pope in effigy in these camps is evidence of the esteem
in which his holiness was held in that Army.

Grief was nation-wide when Washington died. He was held in high
esteem; almost idolized by the people. All churches, including the
Romish, held memorial services, but in the last named the services
were modified, which would not have been the case had they believed
that Washington was of their creed. For example, in the circular of
Bishop Carrol to his clergy, on the occasion of the death of
General Washington, he advises them "not to form their discourses
on the model of a funeral sermon, but rather to compose an oration
such as might be delivered at an Academy, and on a plan bearing
some resemblance to that of Saint Ambrose on the death of the young
Emperor Valentine, who was deprived of life before his initiation
into our church, but who had discovered in his early age the germ
of those extraordinary qualities which expanded themselves in
Washington, and flourished with so much lustre during a life of
unremitting exertion and eminent usefulness.

"If these discourses shall be delivered in churches where the holy
sacraments are usually kept it would be proper to remove it, with
due honor, to some decent place."

It has been claimed that Bishop Carroll was an intimate friend of
Washington, though none of Washington's historians even intimate
this fact. There is no record of an acquaintance between them until
President Washington was invited to distribute the premiums at the
commencement exercises of the Jesuit College, in Georgetown, of
which Bishop Carrol was president. But it is very certain that the
Bishop would not have caused the holy vessels to be removed from
the churches during the memorial services, had he not regarded
Washington as a heretic.

About four years ago there were printed in Romish papers stories on
the subject from which the American Citizen has quoted. One is as
follows:

"Although George Washington, father and first president of our
country, was not a Catholic, yet he is said to have kept always
hanging over his bed a picture of the Immaculate Conception, which
is still to be seen in its old place at Mount Vernon. There is also
a tradition that on the night of his death, Father Neale, S.J., of
the Maryland Province, was hurriedly sent for, and rowed across the
Potomac, where he remained for four hours with the dying Patriot * 
*."

The Potomac river at Mount Vernon is a good mile wide, and the
accompanying map, made in 1795, shows no trail nor road anywhere
near that point of the river on the Maryland side, so the priest
did not row across at that point. We cannot find record of any
Romish church in Maryland nearer than St. Inigoes at that time, and
from the U. S. Catholic Historic Magazine, v. I, p. 333, we find
Father Neale, S. J., was stationed there.

The map, used as this month's frontispiece, was engraved from
surveys made in 1795, and it shows every road, path and trail in
Charles County and St. Marys County, by which his reverence might
travel. Port Tobacco (where there may possibly have been a Romish
church) was the nearest town in Maryland but there was no road
thence to the Potomac except via Matawoman Creek, from which point
there is a waterway fifteen miles in length, after a ride of about
eighteen miles.

From Port Tobacco by water it is thirty-five miles, and from St.
Inigoes by water, it is nearly seventy-five miles to Mount Vernon.
The assumption is, therefore, that the inventor of the fairy story
discovered the name of Father Neale as being in Maryland, and used
this fact to fit into his story.

Alexandria is on the Virginia side of the Potomac and only about
six miles from Mount Vernon. There was a good bridle-path from
Mount Vernon to Alexandria which Washington himself often rode,
which must have been familiar to the inhabitants of Fairfax County,
and as there was a Romish church in Alexandria it would have been
so much more convenient to send there. More than this, Georgetown
was but fourteen miles away, with a good bridle-path all the way,
and Bishop Carrol (who is claimed to have been a friend of
Washington) was stationed at the Jesuit college there.

Travel, at that time, was mostly by the river* or on horseback.
Trails for bridle-paths were cut through the woods, which accounts
for the many hills; for it would seem the path-finders found the
distance over a hill shorter than around it. The river is tortuous
and the channel narrow. There were no steam-boats in those days and
the tides, the fickle winds and the many shoals made river travel
slow. Then, let us inquire, how could Father Neale, sent for in a
hurry, reach Mount Vernon, "spend four hours with the dying
Patriot," and leave with no one at Mount Vernon knowing anything
about it?

This alleged tradition places the remarkable visit on the night of
Washington's death, when Mrs. Washington, private secretary Colonel
Lear, Doctor Craik and the servants were in the house and in the
room (for the General was not left alone for a moment) and if there
were any truth in the story it could not possibly have been kept
secret. We believe that the Romanists, more than any other people,
are the most ready to announce their acquisitions and conquests.

The diary of the private secretary of General Washington, Colonel
Tobias Lear, has been in print for many years and has never been
challenged. It was written at the time, on the spot, and has so
often been verified that there has never been a doubt of its
correctness. Colonel Lear wrote:

"During his whole illness he spoke but seldom and with great
difficulty and distress and in so low and broken a voice as at
times hardly to be understood. His patience, fortitude and
resignation never forsook him for a moment. In all his distress he
uttered not a sigh nor complaint, always endeavoring (from a sense
of duty) to take what was offered to him and to do what was desired
by his physicians.

"At the time of his decease Doctor Craik and myself were in the
situation before mentioned. Mrs. Washington and Charlotte were in
the room, standing near the door; Mrs. Forbes, the housekeeper was
frequently in the room during the day and the evening.

"As soon as Doctor Craik could speak, after the distressing scene
was closed, he desired one of the servants to ask the gentlemen
below to come upstairs. When they came to the bedside, I kissed the
head I held in my bosom, laid it down and went to the other side of
the room where I was for some time lost in profound grief, until
aroused by Christopher desiring care of the General's keys and
other things which were taken out of his pockets and which Mrs.
Washington directed him to give to me. I wrapped them in the
General's handkerchief and took them with me to my room.
"About twelve o'clock the corpse was brought down-stairs and laid
out in the large room.

"Sunday, Dec. 5, 1799.

"The foregoing statement, so far as I can recollect, is correct.
"James Craik."

Thus we have the statement of Colonel Lear verified by Doctor
Craik, the attending physician. Continuing his diary, Colonel Lear
says he "wrote letters to the President, General Hamilton, General
Pinkney,

* The writer is familiar with the river, and is descended from
ancestors who were actively engaged in river traffic at this
period.


Bushrod Washington, Colonel Pell, Captain Hammond and also John
Lewis, desiring him to inform his brothers George, Robert and
Howell * * *." Mrs. Stewart was sent for. In the morning about ten
o'clock Mr. Thomas Peter came down; and about two o'clock Mr. and
Mrs. Law. Doctor Craik tarried all day and night. In the evening I
consulted with Mr. and Mrs. Law, Mr. Peter and Doctor Craik, on
fixing the day for depositing the body in the vault. I wished the
ceremony to be postponed until the last of the week, to give time
for some of the General's relatives to be here. But Doctor Craik
and Mr. Thornton gave it decidedly as their opinion that
considering the disorder of which the General died, being of an
inflammatory nature, it would not be proper nor perhaps, safe, to
keep the body so long and therefore Wednesday was fixed upon to
allow a day (Thursday) in case the weather should be unfavorable on
Wednesday."

The diary for Wednesday shows that "about two o'clock the
procession began to move."

"The arrangements for the procession were made by Colonels Little
and Simms and Mr. Dencale and Mr. Dick. The pall-bearers were
Colonels Little, Simms, Gilpin, Payne, Ramsay and Marstaller.
Colonel Blackburn preceded the corpse; Colonel Duncale marched with
the Militia * * *. Lodge No. 23, Corporation of Alexandria and all
other persons preceded by Mr. Anderson and the overseers. When the
body arrived at the vault, the Reverend Mr. Davis read the service
and pronounced a short extempore speech: the Masons performed their
ceremonies and the body was deposited in the vault."

From among the number of people mentioned and referred to by
Colonel Lear who were on the Mount Vernon premises at the time of
the last illness of General Washington, there surely would have
been at least one who would have known of the alleged visit of a
priest if there had been such a visit, but no word nor intimation
of such a "presence" is even hinted at by a soul.

Colonel Lear, Doctor Craik and all the pall-bearers were Masons,
but not all of them communicants of the church. I cannot discover
that anyone has claimed that General Washington died a Romanist,
but this has been often intimated. "It is said" that he kept the
picture of the Immaculate Conception hanging over his bed, but they
are careful not to say who said so, neither can it be found there
nor can anyone be found who has any knowledge of it.

The story of the visit of Father Neale is a tacit accusation that
Colonel Lear, Doctor Craik, Mrs. Washington, the housekeeper and
the servants conspired to conceal that "presence": an accusation
which seems to the writer to be infamous. I would as soon think of
accusing the Virgin Mary as to believe that Mrs. Washington would
be guilty of such deception. Perish the thought! The story that
Washington kept a picture of the Immaculate Conception hanging over
his bed is very doubtful.

The writer has many times visited Mount Vernon but has never seen
nor heard of any such picture there. Besides this, Washington died
in 1799, and the Immaculate Conception was not decreed by the
Church of Rome until 1854. It was adopted in the constitution of
Pope Piux IX, Ineffabilis Deus, as follows:

"We define the doctrine which holds the most blessed Virgin Mary in
the first instant of her conception to have been preserved from all
stain of original sin by the singular grace and privilege of
Almighty God, and through the merits of Jesus Christ," etc.

The artist who is alleged to have made such a picture could hardly
have anticipated the discovery of the conception fifty-five years
in advance. Petrograd was called St. Petersburg until 1914, and if
a letter were dated "Petrograd, 1859," none but the faithful could
be induced to believe its authenticity.

A story printed in the National Hiberian in 1914 (March) says that
there are more Washingtons in County Roscommon, Ireland, than in
all of England, and that they all have the same "facial expression"
as the Father of his Country, the immortal Washington; the
intimation being that Washington was Irish. The article was well
written and will doubtless be generally believed by the readers of
that paper. Its purpose is evident--keep such a story alive and in
time it may be generally believed, just as was the story taught to
the parochial school-girl mentioned at the beginning of this
article.

Pohick Church, before referred to, stands on the watershed between
Pohick and Accotink creeks a few miles from Mount Vernon. Many very
distinguished men have worshipped there including Washington,
George Mason and John Marshall. At the outbreak of the Civil War
the congregation of Pohick Church was poor and the services in the
church irregular. The United States Artillery seized the building,
and used it for a stable; the floors were torn out that the horses
might stand on soft ground; the windows were broken; the doors
unhinged and the holy vessels taken away. The place changed hands
a number of times during the war and when the Confederates captured
it they made similar use of it. But when the Civil War was ended
the vestry of that little church asked Congress for
indemnification, but could never recover a cent.

The communion service was found in a New York pawn shop; was
redeemed and returned by a New Yorker, but the church was still
unserviceable. The vestry begged for sufficient indemnity to make
the building habitable, but without avail.

Fortunately, however, those noble women who compose the Societies
of Colonial Dames and Daughters of the American Revolution, who are
above politics and above sectionalism, placed their dimpled hands
in their pockets and produced sufficient funds to rehabilitate the
edifice and it is now being used for purposes of worship.

I have always believed that when Wolf and Washington drove the
French back across the St. Lawrence river they did more to
establish civil and religious liberty on the North American
Continent than did our War of Independence.

Mankind seems to be generally divided between the Radicals and the
Conservatives; the one is hasty, drastic, aggressive and confident;
the other tardy, conciliating, patient and doubting.

Washington was one of the few men who came near being a happy mean
between the two. He came of highly respectable and aristocratic
people in Virginia and it is generally believed that his attachment
to Masonry was influential in kindling within him the true spirit
of democracy.

I am not certain that he was a communicant of the church, but it is
certain that he was baptized in the Church of England and was ever
an attendant, and it is equally certain that his actions were in
accord with the tenets of Freemasonry.
