Literary cadet and Rhode-Island statesman. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1827-1829, 1827-05-26

1 and ordered, Journals OF daily accounts, leg
| ers, letters to tenants and agents, and entran-
| ces Of all the minute details Of business, incl
dent TO a personal management Of his largo
plantations. In those days it was the custom
Of the Southern planters 10 ship their produce
directly to the London market, and receive from
| that place, once or twice a year, by special Or
der, all the articles ofimportation necessary for
| family use, thus acting in the double capacity
| Of merchant and farmer. This practice was
followed many years by Washington, and his
papers will shew, that he pursued it with
skill and attention. that proved him not less ac-
| quainted with the various branches of business,
than prompt and diligent in prosecuting them.
We are now arrived at the opening scenes Of
the Revolution, after which, almost every day Of
Washington's life affords matter for history hap
PLY from that date, the records ofthe great events
in which he bore so conspicuous part, the
testimonials of his lets, opinions, and motives;
| are numerous, well-preserved, and attested by
the sanction Of his own hand. Being actuated
by a single aim to public good, which left him
nothing to conceal, and apparently anticipating
the eagerness with which posterity would trace
his footsteps. and search into his deeds, his hab-
nua caution to preserve every document that
could in any manner help to lay open his con-
duct to the broad inspection Of the world, seemed
to increase with the responsibility of his station,
| and the wider sphere Of his duties. There was
probably no imp rtant public act either per-
| formed by HIMSELF or with his counsel or appro-
baton, for which his motives and purposes may
not be easily gathered from some OF his papers (;
| and so regardless was he of any discoveries,
which the prying eye of curiosity might make in
this respect, that he seems to have taken no
| pains TO separate private, from what might be
more properly called public papers, any further
| than circumstances might suggest 10 him the
| prudence Of such measure, for a temporary Pc
| riod. In whatever station he was placed by
Providence, listening TO no other monitor than
his conscience, and obeying no other guidethan
the rectitudc of his own heart, he never sought
| to shield his conduct from the most rigid scru-
| tiny of mankind, nor to withhold or disguise
| any testimony that might be used in a faithful
| narrative of his actions. This brilliant gem in the
| crown of Wnshngon's glory, this stern virtue,
and unmngled purity Of motive, at the same
| time it exalts his name above every other that
has been called great, communicates TO his his
| torical character reality peculiar to him alone,
| and stamps the records he has left behind him
with indelbe marks Of truth. AS no country
| has been so fortunate as our own, in the hero
that achieved its national existence and great
ness so none could rely with such assurance, on
the facts which narrate the story of its early
struggles and growing renown.
| Washington's revolutionary Papers have all
| been transcribed into large folio volumes, amoun-
| ting to forty-four in number, and arranged ac-
| cordng to the following classification:
l. Letters to the Congress ofthc United States; to
| Committees Of Congress to the American
Ministers Plenipotentiary at Foreign Courts;
| to individual Members of Congress in their
public characters. This class contains seven
| volumes.
2. Letters to Officers Of the Line, of every rank
Al CtnGs. n.It1 all 4.
| tary characters Of every denomination. Six
| teen volumes.
| 3. Letters to Conventions and Committees If Safe
| ty and Correspondence to Governors, Prcsi
| dents, and other Executives of States, 10 Civi
| Magistrates and citizens Of every denomina
| tion. Five volumes.
A. Letters 20 Foreign Ministers to subjects of for
! eIgn nations in the immediate service Of the
United States, but not in virtue Of commiss
| ions from Congress to foreign Officers of all
| other descriptions Two volumes.
8. Letters to Officers Of every rank and denomna
| ton in the service of the enemy; to British sub
jects of every character, with the enemy to
persons applying for permission to go to the
enemy One volume
| 8. Proceedings and opinions of Councils of War
| and opinions of the General Officers respect
| ing the various points on which they con-
suited from time to time, by the Co'nmandcr in
| Chief. Three volumes.
! Z. Private Correspondence during the Revolution,
| being letters written to persons both IN private
| and public stations, but on subjects Of pri-
| vate nature. Three volumes
8. Orderly Books, containing all the orders to The
| Army, entered in detail from the day he took
command of it at Cambridge, till he left it at
Newburgh, at the end of the War. Seven
| volumes.
These volumes are arranged with remark
| able cxactness of method. copied with elegance
| and care, and written throughout in a uniform
and neat style Of penmanship. Each class of
| subjects is brought together in a strict chrono-
| logical order, and copious index is added to
every volume. The whole was executed under
| the immediate direction of Mr.. Richard Varick,
| who was appointed, towards the close Of the
| war, Recording Secretary to the Commander in
| Chief He was employed nearly two years and
a half. with the aid of three assistant Clerks, in
arranging and transcrlbing these Papers. Ii
hence appears, that there are two distinct cop
les cfeyery letter, and other paper, from The be-
glning to the end of the Revolution The orig
inals, or copies of first drafts, which were pre-
| served by Washington for occasional reference
| in camp, and from which the above volumes
were transcribed, are mostly on separate sheets
Of paper they are now filed in perfect order,
| witt such labels and directions on each, that any
| one, in tho whole series, csn be Immediately
| consulted.
When the Revolution had terminated, and
| Washington was settled on his farm, although
relieved from public duties, his correspondence
continued to be very extensive with eminent
persons in this country and Europe, and fire.
quently on subjects of much interest and mo-
| ment. From this period, till tn, time Of his ac-
ceping the Presidency, his copied letters fill
| six folio volumes. Scarcely any of them have
been printed, and on many accounts they may
be considered among the most valuable Of his
written remains. Notwithstanding he was
closely occupied with his agricultural pursuits,
| and visited by crowds of company from all