Son of the Republic....Look And Learn
as told to Anthony Sherman
Washington's Remarkable Vision & Other Divine Accounts NOTE: The following was originally published by Wesley Bradshaw in the National Review, Vol. 4, No. 12, December 1880. There are available other slightly differing (in the details) accounts of this same inspired vision.
The last time I ever saw Anthony Sherman was on July 4, 1859, in Independence Square. He was then 99 years old, and becoming very feeble. But though so old, his dimming eyes rekindled as he gazed upon Independence Hall, which he came to visit once more. "Let us go into the hall," he said. "I want to tell you an incident of Washington's life - one which no one alive knows of except myself; and, if you live, you will before long, see it verified.
"From the opening of the Revolution we experienced all phases of fortune, now good and now ill; one time victorious and another conquered. The darkest period we had, I think, was when Washington, after several reverses, retreated to Valley Forge, where he resolved to spend the winter of 1777. Ah! I have often seen our dear commander's care-worn cheeks, as he would be conversing with a confidential officer about the condition of his poor soldiers. You have doubtless heard the story of Washington's going to the thicket to pray. Well, it was not only true, but he used often to pray in secret for aid and comfort from God, the interposition of whose Divine Providence brought us safely through the darkest days of tribulation.
"One day, I remember well, the chilly winds whistled through the leafless trees, though the sky was cloudless and the sun shone brightly, he remained in his quarters nearly all the afternoon alone. When he came out, I noticed that his face was a shade paler than usual, and there seemed to be something on his mind of more than ordinary importance. Returning just after dusk, he dispatched an orderly to the quarters of the officer I mention who was presently in attendance.
After a preliminary conversation of about half an hour, Washington, gazing upon his companion with that strange look of dignity which he alone could command said to the latter: "'I do not know whether it is owing to anxiety of my mind, or what, but this afternoon, as I was sitting at this table engaged in preparing a dispatch, something seemed to disturb me. Looking up, I beheld standing opposite me a singularly beautiful female. So astonished was I, for I had given strict orders not to be disturbed, that it was some moments before I found language to inquire the cause of her presence. A second, a third, and even a fourth time did I repeat my question, but received no answer from my mysterious visitor except a slight raising of her eyes. "'Presently I heard a voice saying, "Son of the Republic, look and learn," while at the same time my visitor extended her arm eastwardly. I now beheld a heavy white vapor at some distance rising fold upon fold. This gradually dissipated, and I looked upon a strange scene. Before me lay spread out in one vast plain all the countries of the world---Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. I saw rolling and tossing, between Europe and America, the billows of the Atlantic, and between Asia and America lay the Pacific. "'"Son of the Republic," said the same mysterious voice as before, "look and learn." At that moment I beheld a dark, shadowy being, like an angel, standing, or rather floating, in the hollow air, between Europe and America. Dipping water out of the ocean in the hollow of each hand, he sprinkled some upon America with his right hand while with his left hand he cast some on Europe. Immediately a cloud raised from these countries and joined in mid-ocean. For a while it remained stationary, and then moved slowly westward, until it enveloped America in its murky folds. Sharp flashes of lightning gleamed through it at intervals, and I heard the smothered groans and cries of the American people. "'A second time the angel dipped water from the ocean, and sprinkled it out as before. The dark cloud was then drawn back to the ocean, in whose heaving billows it sank from view.
A third time I heard the mysterious voice saying, "Son of the Republic, look and learn." I cast my eyes upon America and beheld villages and towns and cities springing up one after another until the whole land, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, was dotted with them. Again I head the mysterious voice say, "Son of the Republic, the end of the century cometh, look and learn." "'At this the dark shadowy angel turned his face southward, and from Africa I saw an ill-omened spectre approach our land. It flitted slowly over every town and city of the latter. The inhabitants presently set themselves in battle array against each other. As I continued looking, I saw a bright angel, on whose brow rested a crown of light, on which was traced the word "Union," bearing the American flag which he placed between the divided nation, and said, "Remember ye are brethren." Instantly, the inhabitants casting from them their weapons became friends once more, and united around the National Standard.
"'And again I heard the mysterious voice saying, "Son of the Republic, look and learn." At this, the dark, shadowy angel placed a trumpet to his mouth and blew three distinct blasts; and taking water from the ocean, he sprinkled it upon Europe, Asia, and Africa. Then my eyes beheld a fearful scene. From each of these countries arose thick, black clouds that were soon joined into one. And throughout this mass, there gleamed a dark red light by which I saw hordes of armed men, who, moving with the cloud, marched by land and sailed by sea to America, which country was enveloped in the volume of cloud. And I dimly saw these vast armies devastate the whole country, and burn the villages, towns and cities that I beheld springing up. "'As my ears listened to the thundering of the cannon, clashing of swords, and the shouts and cries of millions in mortal combat., I again heard the mysterious voice saying, "Son of the Republic, look and learn." When the voice had ceased, the dark shadowy angel placed his trumpet once more to his mouth, and blew a long and fearful blast. "'Instantly a light as of a thousand suns shone down from above me, and pierced and broke into fragments the dark cloud which enveloped America. At the same moment the angel upon whose head still shone the word "Union," and who bore our national flag in one hand and a sword in the other, descended from the heavens attended by legions of white spirits. These immediately joined the inhabitants of America, who I perceived were well-nigh overcome, but who immediately taking courage again closed up their broken ranks and renewed the battle. Again, amid the fearful noise of the conflict, I heard the mysterious voice saying, "Son of the Republic, look and learn." "'As the voice ceased, the shadowy angel for the last time dipped water from the ocean and sprinkled it upon America. Instantly the dark cloud rolled back, together with the armies it had brought, leaving the inhabitants of the land victorious.
"'Then once more I beheld the villages, towns and cities, springing up where I had seen them before, while the bright angel, planting the azure standard he had brought in the midst of them, cried with a loud voice: "While the stars remain, and the heavens send down dew upon the earth, so long shall the Union last." And taking from his brow the crown on which was blazoned the word "Union," he placed it upon the Standard, while the people, kneeling down, said "Amen." "'The scene instantly began to fade and dissolve, and I at last saw nothing but the rising, curling vapor I at first beheld.
This also disappearing, I found myself once more gazing upon the mysterious visitor, who in the same voice I had heard before, said, "Son of the Republic, what you have seen is thus interpreted. Three great perils will come upon the Republic. The most fearful is the third." "(The comment on his word 'third' is: The help against the THIRD peril comes in the shape of Divine assistance; passing which, the whole world united shall not prevail against her. Let every child of the Republic learn to live for his God, his land and Union.)" "'With these words the vision vanished, and I started from my seat and felt that I had seen a vision wherein had been shown me the birth, progress, and destiny of the UNITED STATES." "Such, my friends," concluded the venerable narrator, "were the words I heard from Washington's own lips, and America will do well to profit by them."
End of George Washington’s Vision for America
I’ve often wondered since men of renown have had visons before. And as we approach a time in our history where it looks more and more like this could become a reality…you have to wonder. C.L.
Listen to this song by the group Legacy. Recorded back in the 1990’s
Son of The Republic
Thank you for this. It was a very interesting read.
What’s most interesting in this story about Washington is how deists’ basic belief is that God is separate and distant from us, and there is no divine providence, (protective and spiritual care,) governing the affairs of men, yet … here is an open example of God sending a vision to a deist, Washington, so he could “see and learn”, which is … providing protective and spiritual care! 🤣 Divine providence. Maybe after just such a vision Washington moved to Christianity from deism. And that impacted his decisions and crafting of our nation.
Most Christians evolved from a different prior belief. The fact that they once believed something different doesn’t mean they must have believed that way the rest of their life. Their perspectives don’t all simultaneously switch overnight either. It’s a progression over many years, but their acknowledgement of the truth about God and Jesus is usually instantaneous and is what keeps them moving in the direction towards God and His Word.
I wonder if that 99 year old man was telling the truth, and why he would never have shared it with anyone else in all his years. Surely he also would have known the necessity of more than one witness to make a historical claim credible. Still, I do believe it could have happened just as he said it did. God was certainly involved in the creation of our nation by being present in the hearts and minds of our founding fathers. Just look at our Constitution. Man is completely incapable of creating such a protective document that wholly preserves ALL freedoms and the power OF AND BY the people, the governed. Man’s selfish and sinful heart can’t help but sabotage something like that. Just look at today’s government that vividly proves this more than anything else, but, somehow we have an unselfish, wholly protective Constitution. If that’s not a modern day miracle and divine providence I don’t know what is. Man never changes. We didn’t go from good to evil in almost 250 years. We have always been evil and full of selfish ambitions. There were just as many Bidens and Harrises and Clintons and Obamas and elite oligarchs back then when Washington lived and they worked with him on the Constitution. Yet bam, there it is, as it is.
God has always been involved in the affairs of men and the Old Testament clearly shows His desire to be personally involved in His creation. God made it clear in the New Testament that He no longer dealt with man in the same way as he did in the Old Testament, with earth shattering events to be widely seen by all, fire from the sky, partings of the sea, angels coming down to earth openly to do his will, booming voices from the heavens, prophets, literal finger of God making His will known, etc. No, he now had a new way, to send His Holy Spirit to us, to dwell inside our physical body alongside our own sinful spirit so that anyone who chooses God and makes himself available to His Spirit will be used by Him to carry out His will, which can only be done with the help of His Spurit inside them. That means the opposite is also true, those who reject God open their hearts to the opposite of who He is and are influenced by ungodly spirits. And the New Testament gives us everything we need to discern and test what we see. If someone does not display the fruits of the Spirit but claims to be doing God’s will, they are a false prophet or a false teacher. Clear as day. God did not leave us with only blind faith. He gave us everything needed in his word to use our intelligence and see the truth for ourselves. And that all was given to us 1700 years before the construction of our Constitution. Even with our differences of interpretation and approach, His Spirit was still present within some of the authors if not most.
Granted you have to believe the Bible is the inspired true Word of God to agree with me, so I believe it is the single most important thing to investigate: the credibility of the Bible. To question all claims that it’s not and to follow all logic trying to prove otherwise to see where it stems from while using modern day investigative techniques and logic to ascertain its veracity.
A readily available string of logic that we would all agree with today is that anything that the modern day MSM says is probably NOT the truth. That if everyone in power is fiercely trying to block or censor or destroy the same person then that person is probably telling the truth and is a major, MAJOR threat to them. They won’t be threatened by a lie that can easily be disproven so they don’t waste the energy to repeatedly attack. But the truth is usually fiercely fought and the truer it is, the more fierce the attack against it will be. We all see that and get that today. It’s logical. Well similarly it is telling how Christianity is constantly attacked everywhere today, like in the Olympic opening, constantly the target of hate all over the world, even though its message is one of compassion, humbleness, sacrifice, and love. Yet of all the world religions it alone threatens people the most! Both at a personal, selfish desire level and a governing level. Christianity is the biggest threat to power, more than any other religion. It alone has to be destroyed and taken down. That tells me there is MORE truth to it than not, and if it is the only one Satan is going after (and it is,) then it must be the true Word of God. Why would Satan waste his time going after the red herrings? He has one goal and he has shown us his target, and it’s Christianity. Therefore, Christianity deserves a closer look just like the most attacked politicians do
I believe other Founding Fathers were Free Masons. The idea that Masons are One World Government domination devotees does not gel with members like Washington. Sometimes generalization-- all ____ are____, is just to sway opinion. We need to be critical of info put out by our side in addition to the other side.