Anonymous (“Goodwill”) to Thomas Jefferson, 13 April 1812
From Anonymous (“Goodwill”)
District of Columbia, April 13. 1812
Sir,
You will not doubt the sincerity of the writer when he assures you, that he has been upon his knees before God, during a large part of the night, beseeching the Almighty Soverign to have mercy upon our nation & save our devoted land from the horrors of war, with which we are threatned.
If God saved Nineveh when it was threatened, we know not but we may be saved by looking up to his throne of grace.
As we are assured, that all, who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, therefore, if we should not be instrumental in turning away the wrath of God from our land, yet by praying in sincerity we may save our own souls from death & hide a multitude1 of sins. O Sir, “prepare to meet thy God in peace.” Farewell.
RC (DLC); between dateline and salutation: “To the Honorable Thos. Jefferson Esq.”; endorsed by TJ as an anonymous letter “against war” received 17 Apr. 1812 and so recorded in SJL.
The unidentified author of this letter also wrote TJ as “Goodwill” on 20 June 1809, “A Friend to the Christian Religion” on 28 Apr. 1811, and anonymously on 1 June and 24 Aug. 1812.
god saved nineveh in the Bible, Jonah 3.10: “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.”prepare to meet thy god in peace elaborates on the Bible, Amos 4.12.
1. Manuscript: “multitue.”
Index Entries
- anonymous correspondence; letters from search
- Bible; Amos referenced search
- Bible; Jonah referenced search
- Great Britain; American opposition to war with search
- Jefferson, Thomas; Correspondence; anonymous letters to search
- religion; exhortations to TJ search
- “Goodwill” (“A Friend to the Christian Religion”); letters from search
- “Goodwill” (“A Friend to the Christian Religion”); opposes war search