I don’t think I’m alone in saying that George Washington is one of my personal heroes. Today I will share an experience of his from the Revolutionary War — an incident in world history that without a doubt testifies to the reality of providence in helping humanity wend its way.

In an interesting turn of events, the revolution was hanging by a thread, the Yankee soldiers were ready to turn on their fledgling government; in step General George Washington. Being aware of the mounting tension and knowing that if he didn’t do something all might be lost. Washington entered the gathering of troops and officers to address them. One part of what he said, to me, so shows his humility and willingness to give all he had to the cause of freedom, and ultimately to these men with whom he served, that it totally disarmed the uprising.

After trying to appeal to their better sense of judgment and finding zero cooperation, Washington retrieves a letter from the Congress explaining why they haven’t paid the troops and so on and so forth. Here, I believe, in what Washington says, we see the true measure of a leader.

“Washington produced a letter from a congressman explaining the difficulties the government now faced. He would read it to them. It would help them comprehend the new government’s difficulties. He unfolded the paper. He started to read, slowly. He stumbled over some of the words, then stopped. Something was wrong. The general seemed lost, slightly confused. The officers leaned forward.

“Then Washington pulled from his pocket something the men had never seen their commander-in-chief use before — spectacles.

“‘Gentlemen, you must pardon me,’ he said quietly. ‘I have grown gray in your service, and now find myself growing blind.’

“It was not merely what the beloved general said, but the way he spoke the few, simple words. The humble act of this majestic man touched the soldiers in a way his arguments had failed to do. There were lumps in many throats, tears in every eye. The general quietly left the hall, and the officers voted to give the Congress more time.”

Source credit: Our Country’s Founders: A Book of Advice for Young People, edited, with commentary by William J. Bennett.