Our Sacred honor

The Spirit of America

William J. Bennett

Our Canadian readers, I hope, will indulge me jut a bit while I review a distinctly American book. It is not that I am trying to push the U.S.A. as some perfect place with a corner on the virtue market. I just happen to be a real history buff who is very interested in the American Colonial era and the Revolutionary War. This book gives some very special insights into the minds and hearts of the characters of that time.

The truly unique thing about this book is how the editor has used the words of America's founding fathers (and mothers) to tell the story of their character, including their flaws and foibles as well as their better points. Most of the entries are letters. Some are very intimate epistles between husband and wife, or between father and son. Others are stern or rousing, while still others are more informational or instructive. Consider this excerpt from a letter by Thomas Jefferson to his fourteen-year-old daughter Martha.

Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time, who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done, if we are always doing. And that you may be always doing good, my dear, is the ardent prayer of yours affectionately.

Such simple, common prose written to encourage a child actually gives great insight into what made this man stand out from the pack. Certainly he was above average in intelligence and possessed a large dose of courage, but he also had hold of a simple, biblical principle that we often overlook in this age. Industry leads to success. Or, as Proverbs would instruct us...

I went by the field of the lazy man, and by the vineyard of the man without understanding; and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face of it, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw; I set my heart on it; I looked and I received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to lie down; then your poverty comes stalking, and your want like a man armed with a shield. (Proverbs 24:30-34 MKJV)

In another of the letters, this time a rather famous pair of correspondents, there is an exchange that has served to instruct many generations. John Adams was writing to Thomas Jefferson about something Adams had heard from a sermon by George Whitefield, a major figure of America's First Great Awakening. It is very timely.

I know of no Philosopher, or Theologian, or Moralist ancient or modern more profound; more infallible than Whitefield, if the Anecdote that I have heard be true.
He began; "Father Abraham"! with his hands and Eyes gracefully directed to the Heavens as I have more than once seen him; "Father Abraham", "who have you there with you"? ["]have you Catholicks?" No. "Have you Protestants". No. "Have you Presbyterians"? No. "Quakers?" No. ["]Anabaptists"? No. "Who have you then?" "Are you alone"? No.
"My Brethren,! You have the Answer to all these questions in the Words of My Text," "He who feareth God and worketh Righteousness, shall be accepted of him."

These men were not afraid to live out, share, and promote their faith in the public square. Nor were they lacking in private devotion to God. This book is full of evidence of these facts and serves as a excellent example to all men of today, no matter their country or background.