Isaac Story to George Washington, c.4–10 April 1795
From Isaac Story
[c.4–10 April 1795]1
Deign, most respected Sire, to accept of the inclosed, as one of the sermons was composed in obedience to your requisition;2 please to accept them as a pledge of my veneration for your person & public administrations.
I acknowledge myself a federalist, & that I rejoice in the Privileges of our excellent constitution. May the blessings of it be preserved, notwithstanding the machination of foreigners, & foes within, be increased & handed down in their utmost extent to the latest posterity.
While the old Officers of government are dropping off around you, may you be like mount Zion, which cannot be moved.3 Long may you sway the sceptre of our government, long reign in the hearts of every sincere Patriot; & at some far distant period leave the earthly dominion for a crown of glory which fadeth not away. And when you take your ascension, may the reins of government, like Elijah’s mantle, drop into the hands of a worthy Successor.4 I am your most obedient; & devoted servant
Isaac Story
N.B. The Thanksgiving sermon breathes the sentiments of 19⁄20ths of the clergy in this State.
ALS, DLC:GW.
Isaac Story (1749–1816) served as minister of the Second Congregational Church in Marblehead, Mass., from 5 Oct. 1771 until 4 Feb. 1802.
1. According to 34:176, GW wrote a note of thanks to Story dated 14 April (not found) for two sermons enclosed with this letter. Depending on whether mail was sent by sea or overland, delivery time between coastal Massachusetts and Philadelphia generally took four to ten days.
2. Story was referring to the national day of thanksgiving, 19 Feb., which GW proposed in his proclamation of 1 January.
Story’s two sermons were titled A Discourse, Delivered February 15, 1795, at the Request of the Proprietors’ Committee; as Preparatory to the Collection, On the National Thanksgiving, the Thursday following, for the Benefit of our American Brethren in Captivity at Algiers (Salem, 1795) and A Sermon, Preached February 19, 1795, (from Ecclesiastes ix. 18.) being the Federal Thanksgiving, Appointed by our beloved President, the illustrious George Washington, Esq. (Salem, 1795). The two presentations were combined as a publication called Mr. Story’s Two Sermons, February 15, and 19, 1795. A partial inscription reads: “‘from his most aff——and devoted S—— the Author.’” The pamphlet is bound with other pamphlets marked “‘Political Sermons’” and was in GW’s library at the time of his death (see 145, 195–96).
3. Zion in the Hebrew scriptures and Christian literature frequently meant a stronghold or the immovable presence of God.
4. Story referred to 2 Kings 2:9–15, which recounts the heavenly ascension of the prophet Elijah, during which his mantle, or cloak, fell to the ground. His pupil Elisha picked up the cloak and assumed the former’s prophetic and leadership authority.