And Then They Prayed. Barry Loudermilk
the states had reached a critical level, and Washington proposed convening the Congress to resolve their differences. In May of 1786, Washington expressed his feelings in a letter to John Jay, “…there are errors in our national government which call for correction; … something must be done, or the fabric will fall.” Washington had fought hard for this Convention and, as much as he wanted it to succeed, he maintained his dignity and remained reserved in his position as Convention President. Washington refused to join the heated debates and, when he desired to make his opinions known, he would do so privately outside the Convention chambers.
On June 28, the Convention took a catastrophic turn. Once again, the debates regarding representation ignited a fiery diatribe, which resulted in one of the small states threatening to leave the Confederation and align itself with a foreign power. A delegate from one of the larger states immediately responded with the threat of using military force to keep dissenting states in line. It was now inevitable; everything our soldiers had fought and died for was crumbling down around them. Washington had commanded many of these brave patriots through eight brutal years of war. Countless numbers of America’s countrymen had given their lives for this new nation, and now, the very Convention that was supposed to design a new and stronger nation was, in reality, destroying it. To many of those in attendance, it seemed only a miracle could save the union now and, unknowingly, a miracle was about to begin.
An Appeal To Heaven
George Washington was a man who was no stranger to miracles. During his service as the Commander of the Continental Army, he had witnessed numerous accounts of unexplainable providence in his favor. Washington believed, as he documented in many letters and journals, that God had his hand on our cause and these incidents were acts of God’s divine intervention. Now Washington was in need of a new miracle; one that would change the current course of the Convention. Without such a change, it seemed impossible that they would progress any further and that all they had fought for during the war with Great Britain may have been in vain.
Another highly respected statesman, the President of Pennsylvania, was also looking for a miracle that day. The eighty-one year old Benjamin Franklin, who, like Washington, had also withheld comment through the entire Convention, sensed that the hostility had brought them to a breaking point. He knew something must be done to save the Convention, and he decided it was time to intervene. Gaining the attention of Washington, he slowly stood to speak. As he rose, the room fell deathly quiet as the prominence of the elderly statesman captured the attention of everyone. His features were old, but his voice was strong and commanding, and his words reverberated throughout the chamber. Leaning on his cane, Benjamin Franklin addressed the members of the Convention.
“Mr. President,” Franklin began, as he directed his opening statement to George Washington,
The small progress we have made after four or five weeks close attendance and continual reasoning with each other, our different sentiments on almost every question, several of the last producing as many noes as ays, is methinks a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the Human Understanding. We indeed seem to feel our own want of political wisdom, since we have been running about in search of it. We have gone back to ancient history for models of Government, and examined the different forms of those Republics which having been formed with the seeds of their own dissolution now no longer exist. And we have viewed Modern States all round Europe, but find none of their Constitutions suitable to our circumstances.
In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understanding?
In the beginning of the Contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection. ”Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending providence in our favor.
To that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?
I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?
We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that “except the Lord build the House they labor in vain that build it.” I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages.
And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing Governments by human wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest.
I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of the city be requested to officiate in that service.
Franklin completed his remarks and returned to his seat. For some time, the room remained quiet as everyone was moved with emotion. Franklin had openly rebuked the entire Convention for their failure to corporately ask God for His guidance. Virtually every one of the delegates were active members of Christian churches and, though some had sought private devotions, none had proposed praying together as a Convention. Jonathon Dayton, a delegate from New Jersey, in reporting the reaction of the delegates to Franklin’s remarks stated, “The doctor sat down; and never did I behold a countenance at once so dignified and delighted as was that of Washington at the close of the address; nor were the members of the Convention generally less affected. The words of the venerable Franklin fell upon our ears with a weight and authority.”
Mr. Roger Sherman, a delegate from Connecticut, moved by Franklin’s admonition, promptly seconded his motion. A discussion ensued, as some of the delegates wanted to debate the matter. Those delegates were not opposed to Franklin’s suggestion but, as Alexander Hamilton expressed, this was something they should have done at the beginning of the Convention instead of waiting until now. He argued that if they suddenly bring a member of the clergy into their daily deliberations, the public might get the idea that dissentions within the Convention had called for such measures. Franklin, Sherman and others argued that the past omission of such a duty could not justify a further omission. Mr. Hugh Williamson of North Carolina brought to everyone’s attention that the true reason that the clergy had not been included is that the Convention had no funds to pay a chaplain.
Mr. Edmond Randolph of Virginia offered a proposal. He suggested that a sermon be preached, at the request of the delegates, on July 4, the anniversary of independence, and henceforth prayers be offered at the beginning of each day of the Convention. Benjamin Franklin seconded the motion.
A few days later, on July 4, 1787 in response to Franklin’s appeal and Randolph’s proposal, the majority of the members of the Constitutional Convention, led by George Washington, assembled at the Reformed Calvinistic Church in Philadelphia. Reverend William Rogers preached a sermon about trusting the wisdom of God to establish a “free and vigorous government.” Rogers’s sermon filled the attendees with a new hope as he delivered these words:
We fervently recommend to the fatherly notice… Our federal convention… Favor them, from day to day, with thy inspiring presence; be their wisdom and strength; enable them to devise such measures as may prove happy instruments in healing all divisions and prove the good of the great whole… That the United States of America may form one example of a free and virtuous government…