19th September - BOLD FACE RED LETTER DAY IN LIFE OF G.W.

From: Wm. Perry
To: multiple members of managment and staff @mountvernon.org
Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2013 4:17 PM
Subject: 19th September - BOLD FACE RED LETTER DAY IN LIFE OF G.W.

Dear Fellow Citizens in charge of preserving the Legacy of His Excellency: The Most Honorable George Washington at his beloved home,

I wish to call to your attention to what I view as a glaring omission on your calendar for 19th September. Hey, I love beer and I love tastings but I think that there is something is amiss when no reference whatsoever is made to what renowned U.S. presidential historian, Richard Norton Smith in his book, "Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation," referred to as "A BRILLIANTLY DRAWN ROADMAP TO NATIONAL SURVIVAL ... INTENDED TO BE READ IN DISTANT TIMES." {I think I've seen it for sale in your bookstore so go check it out, please}

On page 277 in which he references Alexander Hamilton’s editorial assistance, the author states that he “dissented (the need to raise the issue of a national university), arguing that the Farewell Address was intended to be read in distant times” [pg. 281].

He later goes on to say that; “in defining the essence of American liberty as the people’s right to make and alter their fundamental charter, Washington captured in a sentence both the fluidity and permanence of true republicanism” [pg. 283]. [That sentence being, of course;  ``The basis of our political Systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of Government."]

I then found it rather disturbing that the tradition of annual readings in the House of Representatives had been abandoned in the 1970’s because they  ``... no longer had the time to listen, much less heed … No paper that ever came from his hand so thoroughly reflected Washington’s personal qualities of balance, restraint, and justice, nor his insights into the folly of emotionalism as a determinant of policy. Today, the Farewell Address is justly famed, not merely as the capstone of Washington’s political philosophy, but as a brilliantly drawn road map to national survival and a fully realized independence.” 

Your page on Alexander Hamilton makes no reference to the fact he assisted His Excellency in the editing of his immortal farewell address. Please follow this link for an authoritative analysis of farewell address. It is the book that is referenced here.

Also I was most interested in watching the video [but it is malfunctioning] about establishment of central bank particularly since Andrew Jackson is the only high-level government official to give proper tribute to President Washington's Farewell Address in a brilliant farewell address of his own [paragraph 7-8] was a sworn enemy of private central banks [ref para. 19 onward] and a true "man of the people." His reverence for His Excellency was so great I must paste here;

The lessons contained in this invaluable legacy of Washington to his countrymen should be cherished in the heart of every citizen to the latest generation; and perhaps at no period of time could they be more usefully remembered than at the present moment; for when we look upon the scenes that are passing around us and dwell upon the pages of his parting address, his paternal counsels would seem to be not merely the offspring of wisdom and foresight, but the voice of prophecy, foretelling events and warning us of the evil to come. Forty years have passed since this imperishable document was given to his countrymen. The Federal Constitution was then regarded by him as an experiment--and he so speaks of it in his Address--but an experiment upon the success of which the best hopes of his country depended; and we all know that he was prepared to lay down his life, if necessary, to secure to it a full and a fair trial. 

Once upon a time, I would've been astonished that your online encyclopedia of George Washington did not have any reference to his final words to the American people as their first president --and posterity-- on how to conduct the affairs of the constitutional republican government he oversaw the creation of but, after my

1. Having facilitated the correction of the U.S. Senate's long-standing errors and granting of my request that special exception be made to that body's strictly-enforced no-reading-material-in-the-gallery rule,
2. Discovered the Washington Monument in our nation's capital is, in fact, an UNFINISHED PROJECT,
3. Having found no reference to George Washington on the Bicentennial day of his farewell address other than a barn with which I'm sure you're familiar,
4. As compared to the centenary celebration in 1896, The New York Times reported, ``Dr. White said that all good citizens are bound to recognize anew the debt the country owes to its founder. A thousand years will not dim the luster of the memory of George Washington."  Sadly it took less than a hundred. Washington Post 19 Sep 1896. The Saving the best for last, THIS one merits the GOLD MEDAL for it is what I call "proper and dignified observation" commensurate with its importance! 
5. And how many times in human history do you think the chairman of the board of a major metropolitan newspaper has written --personally by hand, no less-- a letter of apology for something that his publication did or --in my case-- did not print?
6. And lastly, some years ago I wrote to the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police to point out to them how the War on Drugs conflicts with the principles of President Washington -- and that was BEFORE I discovered the Temperance Address of future president Abraham Lincoln of --also, coincidentally-- Springfield Illinois which makes it clear no uncertain terms he was an ardent anti-prohibitionist. This was their answer.

... pretty much nothing surprises me anymore as to how far the most important document to have ever come from the hand of our #1 Founding Father has drifted out of our national conscience and into the ash dump of history. NOT AS LONG AS THERE IS A BREATH OF AIR IN MY LUNGS! I do what I can to fill an enormous void because in this book, U.S. Constitution Sesquicentennial Commission Director General, Sol Bloom, declared that,  “Among the many valuable state papers of the nation,  two are most intimately connected with the Constitution.  These are The Declaration of Independence,  which opened the way for it,  and Washington’s Farewell Address on keeping in the path” [pg. 3-4]

Repeat: "... KEEPING IT IN THE PATH!"   

Quite frankly, I am a bit surprised the Farewell Address has slipped through your cracks for, some years ago, I had engaged in cordial correspondence with James Reese of your organization and he was most supportive of my efforts to restore what I consider to be one of the greatest masterpieces of word-crafting for the cause of liberty in history of human civilization to its proper level of prominence in the hearts and souls of the American people.

I will leave you with this to contemplate;  In 1896, The Evening Star was the predominant newspaper in our nation's capital. The editorial on 19 September read;

``That remarkable document should at all times be deeply interesting to every true American....

``There is so much of sound and pertinent advice in the Farewell Address that, in making extracts therefrom, one is embarrassed by excess of riches. It is a coherent and logical and heart-touching petition for the growth and nourishment of the most unselfish patriotism; IT SHOULD BE READ AND REREAD AND THOROUGHLY UNDERSTOOD BY EVERY BEING WHO PRIDES HIMSELF UPON LAWFUL POSSESSION OF TITLE OF AMERICAN CITIZEN."

(emphasis added -- not to mention "it should be read and reread and thoroughly understood by every being" who aspires to hold a position for which they will STAND BEFORE THE COLORS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND SWEAR AN OATH TO ITS CONSTITUTION!)

Thanking you in advance for your attention to this matter, I am,

Respectfully yours

Wm. P. Perry