The Necessary Spring

Anyone who has conducted much research into the thought and writings of the men (and women) who were responsible for shaping the American nation at the time of its founding must come to the conclusion that one of the most highly revered words, arguably falling just behind "liberty," was "virtue". Time and again this word surfaces in the writings, both public and private, of the Founders; and it does not seem to them to be a simple matter of opinion and personal discipline, but an issue vital to the success of the new nation (see This Week's Quote, by Sam Adams, on the left sidebar).

The reasons for this concern are clear enough. If a government derives its authority from the people, then it is in the interest of every individual that the people as a whole exhibit a generally strong character and sense of virtue. In a democratic republic, a virtuous people produce a virtuous government; conversely, a corrupt people produce a corrupt government. Theoretically, under a strong monarchical system, the depraved in a populace could at least be held in check by a virtuous and wise monarch, upon whom the welfare of the nation hung (realistically, the record of foolish and debauched monarchs soundly outstrips the "philosopher kings"); in a republic, there was no such safeguard. The people themselves being ultimately answerable for the state of the nation, it is little wonder that the nation's leaders were eager to exalt the ideal of the virtuous and enlightened citizen.

I have heard it said that the idea of virtue in early America was centered upon public behavior and civic duty, as opposed to the more personal and moral connotations which the word carries today. I do not doubt that this is so. And yet, in examining the statements of some of our most esteemed Founders, one must feel that the type of virtue they often had in mind had a good deal more of the good ol' religious virtue, with all its trappings of morality, than many today would care to admit. In his Farewell Address, George Washington wrote, "Tis substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government." This much has already been established. However, in the lines directly preceding this statement, Washington baldly states the means for bringing about this "virtue or morality." He stated,
"And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influences of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles."

Washington was not alone in this belief. John Adams wrote, "Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." James Madison, the "Father of the Constitution," went further. Madison declared,
"We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of each of us to govern ourselves ... according to the Ten Commandments of God."
To these men, a disintegration of religion in society meant the death knell of virtue, and therefore, America. We could do worse than to pay heed to these voices from our past.