Doing Justice, Loving Mercy, and Walking Humbly By Lewis Toland
A quarter of a millennium after “… our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal,” we neglect two indispensable character traits cherished by Founders such as George Washington: gratitude and humility. Abraham Lincoln began the quotation above “Four score and seven years ago,” during which that fledgling nation swelled its population, developed industries, and expanded westward.
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However, pride in spanning the continent ignored sectional factionalism, which led to Confederates firing on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Lincoln spoke on November 19, 1863, on the bloodiest Civil War battlefield: Gettysburg with 50,000 casualties, the bloodbath was not half finished.
Gratitude and humility, as rare then as now, might have prevented shedding brothers’ blood, a sin originating in Cain’s envy and resentment, the opposites of gratitude and humility. When God asked, “Where is your brother?” (Genesis 4:9) humility did not inspire, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Peter Paul Rubens
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Pride betrayed a loyal follower centuries later: “Even though they all fall away, I will not,” boasted Peter during his last meal with Jesus (Mark 14:29). “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times,” warned the one facing crucifixion (14:30). Mark 14 closes, “And immediately the rooster crowed a second time … And he broke down and wept.” Peter, disgraced, exits the story. The last chapter in John’s Gospel reports Jesus’ three-fold commission, “Feed my sheep,” restoring a grateful follower to shepherd Christ’s flock, which he resolutely does in Acts 1-12. Suffering precedes humility and gratitude, two essential character traits missing in most of our politicians and in ourselves.
One president modeled these traits – authenticated by his martyrdom on Good Friday, April 14, 1865. As in Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, he sought at Gettysburg to heal a riven nation with a renewed vision of the Founders: “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall
not perish from the earth.” His humility and gratitude invited “the better angels of our nature.” Lincoln admired a predecessor, the “indispensable man.” George Washington survived the attack against General Braddock in the French and Indian War when two horses were shot from under him and four bullets pierced his coat without injuring him.
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He recalled Valley Forge, the miraculous fog that enabled his army to escape Long Island in 1776, and crossing the icy Delaware River to capture Trenton the day after Christmas. Rod Gragg’s By the Hand of Providence quotes him: “I never understood the fortunate issue of any measure adopted by me in the progress of the Revolution in any other light than as the kind ordering of Providence.” The Leftists’ “Long March” through our colleges after the Vietnam War substituted entitlement and rage for gratitude and humility, robbing young citizens of memory, the essential source of our identity, and replacing it with resentment and baseless hope in a coming socialist utopia.
Our Founders’ high principles rested upon morality nurtured by Judeo-Christian faith – quite unlike the subsequent French Revolution loosely based on unrestrained liberty and reason. The book most likely to be found in colonists’ homes was the Bible, followed by John Bunyan’s
Pilgrim’s Progress, and Shakespeare’s plays. Scriptural allusions saturate the Founders’ writing. Despite their flaws and disputes, they expected Americans to respond to a higher call. John Adams observed: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” George Washington’s “Farewell Address” advises, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”
Our Founding Fathers remain a beacon for conservatism: ordered freedom and moral conduct. Accordingly, when American conservatism resurrected in the early 1950s, two factions emerged. Russell Kirk, advocating morality based on Judeo-Christian faith, inspired traditional conservatives. Friedrich Hayek, elevating liberty above all other concerns, led libertarians. Each side offered valid perspectives, but neither had enough electoral clout. Frank Meyer, adding anti-Communism, fused these factions, thus gaining electoral weight to nominate Barry Goldwater and to elect President Ronald Reagan – sadly, a politics of resentment followed in the 1990s and since.
Our nation staggers toward violent division. Words remain the father of deeds. Conservatives traditionally weighed their context and acted judiciously. Continual agitation from digital media enflames passions and derails sober thought – how very unlike the Indispensable Man of our first secession crisis or Lincoln, who extended mercy to Confederates: “With malice toward none; with charity for all.”
Our political climate rewards retaliation when we lose primaries and elections. TV and radio pundits and websites revile opponents. Not surprisingly, the political Right reacts not only to get even, but to get ahead. Though revenge momentarily gratifies resentment, how does it
inspire and invite younger citizens to accept their civic duty to vote wisely, not impulsively? Sensing endless strife, why not skip their civic duties?
Personalities and programs arise and subside. Are these the essence of conservatism? Conservatism, especially traditional conservativism, is a way of life. Two of its essential moral components – humility and gratitude – have slipped from memory. Let’s revive Lincoln’s healing words and demand these qualities first in ourselves and then in our politicians, thereby restoring a purposeful American foundation.
Sources
Andrews, Spyridon. “The Terrible Twos.” American Greatness. Accessed on 10/4/2026. Gragg, Rod. By the Hand of Providence. New York: Howard Books, 2012.
Recommended Reading List
Brookhiser, R. (2003). Rules of civility: The 110 precepts that guided our first president in war and peace. University of Virginia Press.
Cicero. (1913/1975). De officiis (W. Miller, Trans.). Harvard University Press. (Original work published ca. 44 BCE).
Franklin, B. (2006). The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Yale University Press. (Original work published 1791).
Franklin, B. (2004). Poor Richard's almanack. Dover Publications. (Original work published 1732-1758).
Franklin, B. (2019). The way to wealth. Applewood Books. (Original work published 1758).
Holy Bible, King James Version. (1982). Thomas Nelson. (Original work published 1769).
Plutarch. (2001). Plutarch's lives (A. H. Clough, Ed.; J. Dryden, Trans.; Vol. 1). Modern Library.
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