GW's Reply to the Hebrew Congregation
Newport, Rhode Island, 17 August 1790
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This letter, signed by Washington and deposited at the B'Nai B'rith in Washington, D.C., has been reprinted widely in facsimile. Other contemporary copies of the letter include Washington's letter-book copy in the Library of Congress, and a copy in the Netherlands, Algemain Rijksarchief: Collection Jorissen. Also, photographic copies of the letter signed are in the Rhode Island Historical Society and the Library of Congress.
The letter is in the writing of Washington's secretary Tobias Lear. For a misguided suggestion that Jefferson originally drafted the president's reply to the address of Newport's Jewish congregation, long regarded as Washington's most prominent pronouncement on religious toleration, see Julian P. Boyd et al, eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 19, p. 610; see also Douglas Southall Freeman, George Washington: A Biography, vol. 6, p. 275, note 136.]
To the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island[Newport, R.I., 18 August 1790] Gentlemen. While I receive, with much satisfaction, your Address replete with expressions of affection and esteem; I rejoice in the opportunity of assuring you, that I shall always retain a grateful remembrance of the cordial welcome I experienced in my visit to Newport, [1] from all classes of Citizens. The reflection on the days of difficulty and danger which are past is rendered the more sweet, from a consciousness that they are succeeded by days of uncommon prosperity and security. If we have wisdom to make the best use of the advantages with which we are now favored, we cannot fail, under the just administration of a good Government, to become a great and a happy people. The Citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy: a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support. It would be inconsistent with the frankness of my character not to avow that I am pleased with your favorable opinion of my Administration, and fervent wishes for my felicity. May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, and there shall be none to make him afraid. May the father of all mercies scatter light and not darkness in our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in his own due time and way everlastingly happy. Go: Washington |
Notes
1. See Washington to the Clergy of Newport, R.I., 18 Aug. 1790, note 2, in Papers, Presidential Series. vol. 6.
The following is adapted from The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, W. W. Abbot et al., eds., vol. 6, 284-86 (Mark A. Mastromarino, volume editor), University Press of Virginia (Charlottesville, 1996).
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