Happiness And Moral Duty Are Inseparably

This line is frequently misattributed to Washington's First Inaugural Address of April 30, 1789, but it comes from a letter he wrote to the Protestant Episcopal Church on August 19, 1789, responding to one of the many congratulatory addresses he received from religious organizations early in his presidency. The full passage reads: "The consideration that human happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected will always continue to prompt me to promote the progress of the former by inculcating the practice of the latter." The First Inaugural Address expresses a closely related sentiment about the union of virtue and happiness, likely the source of the confusion.