A letter on God and the Constitution written by George Washington is up for sale after spending decades in a private collection.
The letter to Richard Peters, speaker of the Pennsylvania Constitution, is signed Sept. 7, 1788, and praises God for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
Written a week after Washington told Alexander Hamilton that he would likely accept calls to assume the presidency, the letter came at a time when the Constitution was under attack. Some states wanted to hold a second Convention that may have undermined the Constitution.
Washington wrote, “It would seem from the public Gazettes that the Minority in your State are preparing for another attack of the – now -adopted Government; how formidable it may be; I know not. But that Providence which has hitherto smiled on the honest endeavors of the
Nathan Raab, President of the Raab Collection, said of the letter.”Washington, who was the General in Chief of the Continental Army during the war and President of the Constitutional Convention makes a remarkable statement in this powerful letter: his victory in battle and his stewardship over the Convention that led to our Constitution came with the guiding influence of a higher power,”
The letter, which is priced at $140,000, is for sale from The Raab Collection.