1To George Washington from Elijah Brainerd, 23 January 1799 (Washington Papers)
With great pleasure & deference do I contemplate your high character—Every true American must esteem & respect you as being raised upon the Kingdom of Providence, the political Father of our country—to fill the very first offices of public trust, with great respectability & the most distinguished usefulness to the ten thousands of our nation—and to fill a page in history, unequalled in lustre...