"Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle"

This quote by George Washington is a caution versus the idea that morality can exist without religious beliefs. He recommends that reason and experience both show us that morality can not be kept without spiritual principles. Washington is warning us to be cautious when considering the idea that morality can exist without religious beliefs, as it is not supported by reason or experience. He is recommending that national morality depends on religious concepts, which without them, morality can not prevail. This quote is a suggestion that morality and faith are linked, and that morality can not exist without religious concepts.