You have our most Ardent Prayers to Almighty God for your happiness & prosperity in this enjoyment of the fruits of your own Labour and of every domestic Bliss; and that after a long Period of extensive usefulness here, you may be prepared for and; receive the glorious reward of eternal Life in the World to come.--Elias Boudinot to General Washington, Jan 11, 1784
Along with fellow Presbyterian William Bradford, Elias Boudinot was one of GW's closest friends. Boudinot was a staunch Evangelical, saved after the Great Awakening. Yet Boudinot believed Washington was saved. This is strong prima facie evidence for GW's faith:
Washington is no more..There has a great man fallen in Israel [America]..It is appointed for all men once to die--but after that the judgment--We have great cause of gratitude & thankfulness, amidst our mourning that God in his Providence has continued him so long a public blessing and that he has ended his days crowned in glory.
--To his brother, Dec 19, 1799.
This is very interesting because it is doubtful Boudinot would claim one of his closest friends was saved unless he knew it. Boudinot remarks what happens to the unrepentant sinner:
What an essential difference there is between the death of a child of God and that of the sinner, who has lived without God in the World.
--To his Nephew, Nov 27, 1819.Boudinot's sister Annis, another staunch Presbyterian, and close friend to Washington, believed he was a Christian:
But thy last legacy, renouned chief,
Hack decked thy brow with honors more sublimed,
Twined in thy wreath, the Christian's firm belief,
And nobly owned thy faith to future time.
--Family letters, 1783.
Boudinot's brother married Bradford's sister Rachel.
