On My Mind Tonight

I'm currently reading a fascinating book about George Washington and, just a few chapters in, I'm already in awe. More than that, I'm struck by how many of his thoughts about the British government at the time can so perfectly be applied to our own time now. The following are three quotes which are weighing on my mind tonight:

Written to a friend shortly after the Boston Tea Party and the subsequent 'Intolerable Acts' imposed by Great Britain:

". . . God only knows what is to become of us . . . while those from whom we have a right to seek protection are endeavoring by every piece of art and despotism to fix the shackles of slavery upon us."

To a correspondent, who had suggested that humble requests to the throne would work better than Washington's plan for the colonies to avoid ordering/importing any British goods on which a tax was imposed, he wrote the following:

"As . . . I observe that government is pursuing a regular plan at the expense of law and justice to overthrow our constitutional rights and liberties, how can I expect any redress from a measure which has been ineffectually tried already? . . . Shall we, after this, whine and cry for relief when we have already tried it in vain? Or shall we supinely sit and see one province after another fall a prey to despotism? . . .
I am convinced, as much as I am of my existence, that there is no relief but in their distress; and I think, at least I hope, that there is public virtue enough left among us to deny ourselves everything but the bare necessaries of life to accomplish this end. This we have a right to do, and no power upon earth can compel us to do otherwise till they have first reduced us to the most abject state of slavery that ever was designed for mankind."

And lastly:

"An innate spirit of freedom first told me that the measures which administration have for some time been and now are most violently pursuing are rebugnant to every principle of natural justice."

I wonder if these ideas resound as much with you as they have within me.