Title: To George Washington from Henry Knox, 1 September 1792
From: Knox, Henry
To: Washington, George

Sir,
War department September 1st 1792

I have the honor to submit you a copy of Major General Waynes letter of the 24th Ultimo, containing his ideas of the war, in case of the failure of the pacific overtures.
I have written him this day, of which the enclosed is a copy.
The propriety of the expedition to the St Joseph’s river at present, may be justly questioned—After we shall be well established at the Miami village, with proper posts of communication with the head and down the Wabash, and down the Miami of Lake Erie, the hostile Indians on St Josephs will either submit, or remove to a greater distance.
We shall soon know with certainty, whether any Indians will remain on the Miami of Lake Erie the ensuing winter—If they should not, the establishments may be effected as far as the field of action of the 4. of November and perhaps at the Miami village during the Winter or early in the spring, [(]before the Indians can assemble) either without loss or opposition—if so, our great points would be gained.
The Magazines therefore of forage, and provisions at the advanced posts will be proper and important.
The morning report made to Genl Wayne of the 24th of August I have the honor to enclose—I believe some of his detachments which had arrived are not inserted.
I have the honor also to transmit enclosed the returns of recruits to this day—It is painful to reflect upon its small encrease and difficult to conjecture a remedy, excepting by increasing the pay which cannot be effected without the orders of Congress. I have the honor to be with the highest respect Your most obed. Servant

H. Knoxsecy of war


Title: From George Washington to Henry Knox, 3 September 1792
From: Washington, George
To: Knox, Henry

Sir,
Mount Vernon Sepr 3d 1792

Since my last to you—dated the 26th of Augt—I have received your dispatches of the 23d; 26th; & 28th; of the same month; and it is probable, the Messenger who will carry this & other letters to the Post Office, will bring me the result of your deliberations on the communications from Georgia.
I am exceedingly glad to find by the copy of Genl Putnams letter to you, that he had resolved to proceed from Fort Washington to Post Vincennes, even if no other good should result from it, than to shew that nothing in the compass of the Executive has been unessayed to convince the hostile Indians of the pacific and equitable measures & intentions of the Government of the Union towards them. I shd have been unwilling (as I mentioned to you in my letter of the [13] of Augt) to have entrusted so important a negotiation to Majr Hamtrackt although the business might have been transacted with zeal & ability by that Officer.
I hope the party of Seneca Indians when their services were dispensed with by Lieutt Jeffers were rewarded, & went off well satisfied. This, as far as it can be accomplished by reasonable attentions & proper compensation, ought always to be the case.
The conduct of the Waggoners, in dropping the public stores with the transportation of which they are charged, along the

Road to Pittsburgh, ought to undergo the strictest scrutiny; & in cases of culpability, to meet with severe punishment by way of example to others.
I have no objection to Peter Van Allans filling the Vacancy which has been occasioned by the resignation of Lieutt Schuyler and shd be glad to know the determination of Major Fish as soon as he has formed and you are made acquainted with it. With esteem and regard I am—Yours &ca

Go: Washington


Title: From George Washington to Henry Knox, 3 September 1792
From: Washington, George
To: Knox, Henry

(Private)
My dear Sir,Mount Vernon Sep. 3d 1792.
I thank you sincerely for the medicine you were so obliging as to send for my Nephew, and for the sympathetic feeling you express for his situation. Poor fellow! neither, I believe will be of any avail. Present appearances indicate a speedy dissolution. He has not been able to leave his bed except for a few moments to set in an Arm Chair since the 14th or 15th of last Month. The paroxysm of the disorder seems to be upon him and death or a favourable turn to it must soon follow.
I pray you to turn your thoughts to the communications which may be necessary for me to refer to from the War Department at the opening of the next Session; that such documents as shall be adjudged proper for the occasion may be prepared by that time for both houses of Congress; and if any thing else of a general nature should occur to you I would thank you for noting it for consideration that nothing proper may escape communication.
I learn through the medium of a letter from the Auditor to his father in law, Doctr Craik, that Colo. Hamilton has it in contemplation to visit this part of the Country in the course of this, or the beginning of next month. Should this event take place and you could make it convenient to be of the party it will be unnecessary I hope for me to say that I should be very glad to see you under this roof. It is fair, however, to add, that this part of the Country has experienced more sickness this summer than is recollected to have happened for many years—first with the flux, and then with intermittant & remittant fevers. happily few deaths have been the consequence of either. The former is now over—but the latter is still prevalent. Both the French and British Ministers talked of coming this way. Should they still continue in the same mind I should be glad if by indirect enquiries you could ascertain & let me know the time, or times (if they come seperately) they may be expected. My present intention, if the peculiar

situation into which my affairs are thrown by the illness of my Nephew will not necessarily delay it, is to take the Sale of Lots in the Federal City in my way to Philadelphia—and this Sale is appointed to be on the 8th of October. I am &ca

G. W——n


Title: To George Washington from John J. Pringle, 3 September 1792
From: Pringle, John J.
To: Washington, George

  Charleston, S.C., 3 Sept. 1792. Resigns as U.S. attorney for the District of South Carolina because his “business and avocations” do not permit him enough time to perform properly the duties of this office.


Title: From George Washington to James Seagrove, 4 September 1792
From: Washington, George
To: Seagrove, James

Sir,
Mount Vernon Sep. 4th 1792.

It was necessary for the Express that brought your dispatches to me to proceed to the War Office with my sentimt thereupon—Enclosed you have the result. To these I have nothing to add

but my entire approbation of the zeal and intelligence with which you have conducted matters with the Creek Indians—My good wishes for the perfect restoration of your health—and my hope that it may comport with your Inclination and views to superintended that business, agreeably to the Plan suggested by the Secretary of War.
As I do not perceive that any mention is made of it in the letter from the Secretary of War to you, it may not be amiss to inform you that One hundred Dollars has been advanced to Mr Jas Jordon to defray the expences of his journey; for which he must acct to you. With esteem I am Sir Yr Obedt Hble Servt

Go: Washington


Title: To George Washington from John Churchman, 5 September 1792
From: Churchman, John
To: Washington, George

Baltimore September 5th 1792.

Having waited with patience for several Years, in hopes the National Legislature would do something towards fitting out one or two vessels on a Voyage of experiment, yet notwithstanding the report of the Committee of Congress was adopted last Session, & a Bill brought in and read the second time, it did not pass into a Law.
Now agreeable with the advice of some of my Friends, I have proposed to go to Europe in the Ship Friendship Captain Smith who is to leave this port for London the 10th day of the present month. Before my departure I had a desire of coming to Mount Vernon, but was afraid of interfereing with a croud of other Visitors,

and it was with difficulty I could prevail upon myself to be the Occasion of so much trouble as the present Farewell Letter, but as I go to prove the principles of the Magnetic Atlas, from the favourable reception this little work has met with, I humbly hope to be pardoned. In order to bring these principles to the test, I have been engaged in making an extensive set of Tables, to reduce them to practice, without the trouble of measuring angles, or making calculations by the marriner. on this account I wish to make a number of observations, on the western coast of Europe, this business I percieve must be very expensive.
As the different Governments of Europe have thought subjects of this kind worthy of their encouragement, it may be useful for me to keep up a correspondence at some of the Courts abroad, for this reason it might be highly useful for me to get into the good graces of the American Ministers residing at London and Paris. I shall therefore be happy to be the bearer of a line to each or either of them, as by these means my well meant endeavours may be promoted in part without any additional expence to the public. & if any good should arise from the present scheme, with Justice will it be said that it came by & through the President of the United States, but I dare not solicit any letter to the Marquis de la Fayette the Washington of France.
Should I be favoured with any commands at this time, they will come safe to the care of James Clark Merchant in this Town, in whose Ship I am to sail.
Indeed the Secretary of the Treasury has kindly written to both of the said American Ministers at London & Paris on my behalf. yet if some thing further is now added this kindness will ever be remembered by me with gratitude. Its true I have also many other Letters to & from certain Scientific Characters. among which is one from the good Bishop White to his Friend in London. Judge Johnson has obligingly written to his Brother the Consul General in the same City in my favour. &c.
I take the Liberty to mention that I have furnished myself with a number of copies of a Map & description of the Federal City of Washington, which was engraved for the Magazine, all of which I hope to put in such hands on the other side of the Ocean, as to place that new City in a favourable light, & as a larger Map of the same is expected soon to be finished & published I expect also to procure some of that impression for the same purpose. With the

greatest sentiments of respect, I hope to be permitted to make an humble offering of my service & esteem

John Churchman


Title: Memorandum on a Statement by James Craik, 7 September 1792
From: Washington, George
To:

[Mount Vernon, 7 September 1792]

Agreeably to your request, I shewed Mr Campbells letter, to you, to the P. of the U:S: who appeared to be exceedingly surprised at the contents, and at the liberty which had been taken in making declarations for him which he had never made for himself. He added, that to the best of his recollection, he never exchanged a word with Bushrod Washington on the subject of Colo. Mercers Election, much less to have given a decided opinion of his fitness or unfitness to represent the district for which he is a Candidate. That such a measure would have been inconsistent with the rule he has prescribed to himself, and which he has invariably observed of not interfering directly, nor indirectly with the suffrages of the people in the choice of their Representatives. And said he wished that Bushrod Washington might be called upon to certify what, or whether any conversation of the kind ever passed between them on this subject as it was his desire that every thing might stand upon it’s proper foundation.
The above, is what Doctr Craik was authorised to say, or write to Mr Fendal, on the subject of a letter from Mr Campbell to him signifying that Colo. Mercer or some of his friends were reporting

that I had to B[ushrod]. W[ashington]: declard that he was the best Representative in Congress & that it was my earnest wish that he should be re-chosen by the State of Maryland.


Title: To George Washington from Thomas Marshall, 7 September 1792
From: Marshall, Thomas
To: Washington, George

Sir
Septr 7th 1792

I take the liberty of writing by Capt. Obannon and in a few words mean to give you the names and rank of the Gentlemen who are most likely to Influence government & give a tone to the politics of this State. Isaac Shelby Esqr. Governor. Harry Innes Esqr. (present Judge of the federal Court) first Judge of the high Court of appeals. John Brown Esqr. Senator to Congress. James Brown Esqr. Secretary. George Nicholas Esqr. Attorney General for that and almost every post of power or proffit in the state fill’d by their friends and adherants. From this you may judge of my situation who have formerly offended some of them & can never make concessions without violating my own conscience. It is true I want nothing which they have to bestow; yet they can by missrepresentation vex me, by rendering me obnoxious to the people.
Colo. Muter, who can never be forgiven for suffering the publication of Mr Browns letter, has pretty severely felt the rod of power. He has been by the choice of the Assembly of Virginia, for seven years past first judge of the supreme Court of the District of Kentucky, with a Salary of £300 pr Annum & is without

any fault alleged against him turned down to the Court of Oyer & terminer where the Salary it is thought will be very trifling—for the Salary of the judges are not yet fixed.
I have recieved a letter from Colo. Richard C. Anderson requesting my recommendation of him to fill the office of Commissioner of loans if such an office should be necessary in this State. To recommend a Gentleman to fill any office is a liberty I have never yet taken, nor do I think my self by any means authorised to do so, but as I have had a long acquantance with Colo. Anderson both in the Army & since it was discharged, & have the highest opinion of his merit as an officer & a Gentleman, I hope you will pardon me for being the means of his wishes having come to your knowledge. I have the honor to be with the most cordial wishes for a long continuance of your health & prosperity Sir Your most obedient humble Servant

T. Marshall


Title: To George Washington from John V. Weylie, 7 September 1792
From: Weylie, John V.
To: Washington, George

Honoured Sir,
Alex[andri]a [Va.] Sept. 7th 1792

Notwithstanding the inestimable Favour you have conferred upon me in paying for my Education, yet I have made bold (though with great reluctance) to beg another particular Kindness.
Through your unexampled Bounty, I have made a considerable Progress in the Latin Tongue, and at the Return of the Revd Mr McWhir from Georgia, I am to begin Greek. My Father bought several Latin Authors for me, and others I borrowed. But being at present unable to purchase me what Greek Books I shall want, and they being more scarse than the Latin, my only Resource is in your well known Generosity. Without your kind Interposition and Assistance, I am afraid my Education will be rendered altogether imperfect. Had I continued to learn English, I might by this time, have made myself perfect Master of my Mother Tongue. But having exchanged that for the Study of the Classics, and being, very much charmed with it, I am very loath to forsake so very agreeable a Study; as a thirsty Traveller having found a cool, refreshing Brook in his way, is very unwilling to leave it till he perfectly allayst his Thirst. Whether the Greek Language may please me as much as the Latin, is a matter I am as yet uncertain of; however I am very desirous to try. I entreat

you Sir, as your unparalled Liberality has conducted me thus far, not to forsake me at the very moment I am upon the point of obtaining my Desires. I might here enlarge upon my manifold Obligations to you, but as merit is alway disgusted at its own Praises, I choose to be silent. But depend upon (illustrious Benefactor) you have my most ardent and sincere wishes for your temporal and eternal Welfare.
The principal Books necessary for learning the Greek Language are the five following, Moor’s Greek Grammar, Testament, Lucian’s Dialogues, Homer’s Iliad and a Lexicon. Though they are but few, yet my Father’s Circumstances incapacitate him to procure them for me. I therefore, hope, noble Sir, you will assist me, and thus complete the Benefits already heaped upon Your Excellency’s most devoted Humble Srt

John V. Weylie


Title: To George Washington from Alexander Hamilton, 8 September 1792
From: Hamilton, Alexander
To: Washington, George

Sir,
Treasury Departmt 8th Septr 1792.

I have to acknowledge the honor of your Letter of the 31st of August.
Letters from the Supervisor of North Carolina confirm the

representation contained in the letter from the Inspector of the 5th Survey to you. My letter which accompanies this suggests the measure which, on mature reflection, has appeared most proper to be taken upon the whole subject of the opposition to the Law. If the idea is approved by you, I believe it will be adviseable to transmit a copy of the Proclamation to the Governor of each of the States of South Carolina North Carolina & Pennsylvania, calling their attention in a proper manner to the state of affairs within their respective Governments.
I am taking arrangements to cary into execution the payment of the Debt due to foreign officers, agreeably to the authorisation in the close of your Letter. With the highest respect and the truest attachment, I have the honor to be &c.

Alex. Hamilton


Title: To George Washington from Henry Knox, 8 September 1792
From: Knox, Henry
To: Washington, George

My dear sir
Philadelphia Septr 8 1792

I have the pleasure to acknowledge Your favor of the 3d instant. It really gives me great pain to learn the deplorable situation of your amiable Nephew. Although the tax of death be inevitable, so premature a demand, while it afflicts, perplexes and

confounds us as to the arrangement upon this subject by the great author of our natures.
Poor Mrs Smith, paid this debt, to the inexpressible anguish of her friends. She died last night.
I will have prepared, such Communications as shall occur to me relatively to the war department and also upon other general subjects.
Colonel Hamilton will not have the leisure he promised himself in order to visit Mount Vernon. and it would also be inconvenient for me to be absent, as I experien[c]ed in my jaunt to New York. which however I shall be constrained again to revisit in the course of this month, for three days. But I shall endevor to do it without prejudice to my public duty.
I have called twice upon the french Minister in order to sound him indirectly on his intention of paying you his respects at Mount Vernon, but he was not at home. I will as early as possible ascertain it and communicate the result—Mr Hammond has not yet returned from his eastern excursion, nor can I learn that he is soon expected. With sincere respects to Mrs Washington I am my dear Sir with the highest attachment Your most Obedient Servant

H. Knox

P.S. poor france seems destined to drink deeply of the Cup of Misery. The King, and M. Fayette seem to play the parts of heroes—and probably the blood of both of them will seal their principles.


Title: To George Washington from Henry Knox, 8 September 1792
From: Knox, Henry
To: Washington, George

Sir,
War department September 8th 1792

I have the honor respectfully to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of the 3rd instant.
Upon examination it appears that no stores have been unreasonably detained by the Waggoners upon the road, as the receipts for all at Pittsburg which could have arrived have been received by Mr Hodgdon.
I have the honor to submit enclosed the copy of General Wayne’s letter of the 31st of August and my answer thereto.
I also enclose the copy of Captain Brant’s letter of the 26th of July and of the Chiefs of the Six Nations dated at Buffaloe Creek the first of August.
These two letters pretty amply confirm the idea of a new boundary line being desired by the English. The opinions of Brant and the Chiefs may be regarded as the opinion of the British—and not as the opinion of the Wyandots and Delawares.
The time which Brant intimates as necessary, is of great importance to us in order to complete the Legion—But it is my serious apprehension that the Indians will be influenced to demand a boundary which we cannot honorably grant, and probably the idea of it’s being guaranteed by the British will be brought forward.
I also submit to your consideration a letter of Governor Mifflin to the County Lieutenant of Allegany. and in order that you may have the subject fully before you, I transmit the correspondence between the Governor and me to which he alludes.
I shall lay these papers before the Attorney General and request his opinion whether the Conduct of the Governor in calling out the Militia without any previous communication thereof to the Executive of the United States be consistent with the Constitution? and I shall submit to you the result—I have the honor to be with the highest respect Your most obedt servant

H. Knox secy of war

P.S. Since writing the above I have received a letter from Brigadier General Wilkinson dated 6. Ultimo, a copy of which I have the honor to inclose.


Title: To George Washington from Alexander Hamilton, 9 September 1792
From: Hamilton, Alexander
To: Washington, George

Sir
Philadelphia September 9 1792.

I have the pleasure of your private letter of the 26th of August.
The feelings and views which are manifested in that letter are such as I expected would exist. And I most sincerely regret the cause of the uneasy sensations you experience. It is my most anxious wish, as far as may depend upon me, to smooth the path of your administration, and to render it prosperous and happy. And if any prospect shall open of healing or terminating the differences which exist, I shall most chearfully embrace it; though I consider myself as the deeply injured party. The recommendation of such a spirit is worthy of the moderation and wisdom

which dictated it; and if your endeavours should prove unsuccessful, I do not hesitate to say that in my opinion the period is not remote when the public good will require substitutes for the differing members of your administration. The continuance of a division there must destroy the energy of Government, which will be little enough with the strictest Union—On my part there will be a most chearful acquiescence in such a result.
I trust, Sir, that the greatest frankness has always marked and will always mark every step of my conduct towards you. In this disposition, I cannot conceal from you that I have had some instrumentality of late in the retaliations which have fallen upon certain public characters and that I find myself placed in a situation not to be able to recede for the present.
I considered myself as compelled to this conduct by reasons public as well as personal of the most cogent nature—I know that I have been an object of uniform opposition from Mr Jefferson, from the first moment of his coming to the City of New York to enter upon his present office—I know, from the most authentic sources, that I have been the present subject of the most unkind whispers and insinuation, from the same quarter—I have long seen a formed party in the Legislature, under his auspices, bent upon my subversion—I cannot doubt, from the evidence I possess, that the National Gazette was instituted by him for political purposes and that one leading object of it has been to render me and all the measures connected with my department as odious as possible.
Nevertheless I can truly say, that, except explanations to confidential friends, I never directly or indirectly retaliated or countenanced retaliation till very lately—I can even assure you, that I was instrumental in preventing a very severe and systematic attack upon Mr Jefferson, by an association of two or three individuals, in consequence of the persecution, which he brought upon the Vice President, by his indiscreet and light letter to the Printer, transmitting Paine’s pamphlet.
As long as I saw no danger to the Government, from the machinations which were going on, I resolved to be a silent sufferer of the injuries which were done me—I determined to avoid giving occasion to any thing which could manifest to the world dissentions among the principal characters of the government; a thing which can never happen without weakening its hands, and in some degree throwing a stigma upon it.

But when I no longer doubted, that there was a formed party deliberately bent upon the subversion of measures, which in its consequences would subvert the Government—when I saw, that the undoing of the funding system in particular (which, whatever may be the original merits of that system, would prostrate the credit and the honor of the Nation, and bring the Government into contempt with that description of Men, who are in every society the only firm supporters of government)—was an avowed object of the party; and that all possible pains were taking to produce that effect by rendering it odious to the body of the people—I considered it as a duty, to endeavour to resist the torrent, and as an essential mean to this end, to draw aside the veil from the principal Actors. To thi⟨s⟩ strong impulse, to this decided conviction, I have yielded—And I think events will prove that I have judged rightly.
Nevertheless I pledge my honor to you Sir, that if you shall hereafter form a plan to reunite the members of your administration, upon some steady principle of cooperation, I will faithfully concur in executing it during my continuance in office. And I will not directly or indirectly say or do a thing, that shall endanger a feud.
I have had it very much at heart to make an excursion to Mount Vernon, by way of the Fœderal City in the course of this Month—and have been more than once on the point of asking your permission for it. But I now despair of being able to effect it. I am nevertheless equally obliged by your kind invitation.
The subject mentioned in the Postcript of your letter shall with great pleasure be carefully attended to—With the most faithful and affectionate attachment I have the honor to remain Sir Your most Obed. & humble servant

A. Hamilton

P.S. I had written you two letters on public business, one of which will go with this; but the other will be witheld, in consequence of a slight indisposition of the Attorney General, to be sent by express—sometime in the course of tomorrow.


Title: To George Washington from Alexander Hamilton, 9 September 1792
From: Hamilton, Alexander
To: Washington, George

Sir,
Treasury Departmt Septr 9th 1792.

I had the honor of writing to you by the post of Monday last, and then transmitted Sundry papers respecting a Meeting at Pittsburg on the 21st of August, and other proceedings of a disorderly nature, in opposition to the Laws laying a duty on distilled spirits; and I added my opinion, that it was adviseable for the Government to take measures for suppressing these disorders, & enforcing the laws with vigour & decision.
The result of further & mature deliberation is, that it will be expedient for the President to issue a Proclamation, adverting in general terms to the irregular proceedings, which have taken place, warning all persons to desist from similar proceedings

& manifesting an intention to put the Laws in force against Offenders.
The inducements to this measure are;
1st. That it is a usual course in like cases; and seems, all circumstances considered, requisite to the justification of the Executive Department. It is now more than fourteen months since the duty in question began to operate. In the four Western Counties of Pennsylvania and in a great part of North Carolina it has never been in any degree submitted to. And the late Meeting at Pittsburg is in substance a repetition of what happened last year in the same scene. The disorders in that quarter acquire additional consequence from their being acted in the State which is the immediate Seat of the Government. Hence the occasion appears to be sufficiently serious & of sufficient importance to call for such a proceedure.
II. An accommodating and temporising conduct having been hitherto pursued, a Proclamation seems to be the natural prelude to a different course of conduct.
III. There is considerable danger, that before measures can be matured for making a public impression by the prosecution of offenders, the spirit of opposition may extend & break out in other quarters; and by it’s extension become much more difficult to be over come. There is reason to hope that a Proclamation will arrest it, and give time for more effectual measures.
IV. It may even prevent the necessity of ulterior coertion. The character of the President will naturally induce a conclusion that he means to treat the matter seriously. This idea will be impressive on the most refractory—it will restrain the timid & wavering, and it will encourage the well disposed. The appearance of the President in the business will awaken the attention of a great number of persons of the last description to the evil tendency of the conduct reprehended, who have not yet viewed it with due seriousness. And from the cooperation of these circumstances, good may reasonably be expected.
In either view therefore, of the propriety of conduct, or the effects to be hoped for, the measure seems to be an adviseable one. I beg leave to add that, in my judgment, it is not only adviseable, but necessary.
Besides the state of things in the Western parts of North Carolina which is known to you, a letter has just been received from

the Supervisor of South Carolina, mentioning that a spirit of discontent and opposition had been revived in two of the Counties of that State bordering on North Carolina, in which it had been before apparently suppressed. This shews the necessity of some immediate step of a general aspect; while things are preparing, if unhappily it should become necessary, to act with decision in the Western Counties of Pennsylvania, where the Government, from several obvious considerations will be left in condition to do it. Decision successfully exerted in one place will, it is presumeable, be efficacious every where.
The Secretary at War and the Attorney General agree with me in opinion on the expediency of a Proclamation. The draft of one now submitted has been framed in concert with the latter; except as to one or two particulars which are noted in the margin of the rough draft in my hand writing, herewith also transmitted. In respect to these, the objections of that Gentleman did not appear to me founded, and would, I think, unnecessarily diminish the force of the instrument. With the highest respect and the truest attachment, I have the honor to be &c.

Alexr Hamilton


Title: To George Washington from Thomas Jefferson, 9 September 1792
From: Jefferson, Thomas
To: Washington, George

Dear Sir
Monticello [Va.] Sep. 9. 1792.

I received on the 2d inst. the letter of Aug. 23. which you did me the honor to write me; but the immediate return of our post, contrary to his custom, prevented my answer by that occasion. the

proceedings of Spain mentioned in your letter are really of a complexion to excite uneasiness, & a suspicion that their friendly overtures about the Missisipi have been merely to lull us while they should be strengthening their holds on that river. mister Carmichael’s silence has been long my astonishment: and however it might have justified something very different from a new appointment, yet the public interest certainly called for his junction with mister Short as it is impossible but that his knolege of the ground of negotiation, of persons & characters must be useful & even necessary to the success of the mission. that Spain & Gr. Britain may understand one another on our frontiers is very possible; for however opposite their interests or dispositions may be in the affairs of Europe, yet while these do not call them into opposite action, they may concur as against us. I consider their keeping an agent in the Indian country as a circumstance which requires serious interference on our part: and I submit to your decision whether it does not furnish a proper occasion to us to send an additional instruction to messrs Carmichael & Short to insist on a mutual & formal stipulation to forbear employing agents or pensioning any persons within each others limits: and if this be refused, to propose the contrary stipulation, to wit, that each party may freely keep agents within the Indian territories of the other, in which case we might soon sicken them of the license.
I now take the liberty of proceeding to that part of your letter wherein you notice the internal dissentions which have taken place within our government, & their disagreeable effect on it’s movements. that such dissentions have taken place is certain, & even among those who are nearest to you in the administration. to no one have they given deeper concern than myself; to no one equal mortification at being myself a part of them. tho’ I take to myself no more than my share of the general observations of your letter, yet I am so desirous ever that you should know the whole truth, & believe no more than the truth. that I am glad to seize every occasion of developing to you whatever I do or think relative to the government; & shall therefore ask permission to be more lengthy now than the occasion particularly calls for, or would otherwise perhaps justify.
When I embarked in the government, it was with a determination to intermeddle not at all with the legislature, & as little as

possible with my co-departments. the first and only instance of variance from the former part of my resolution, I was duped into by the Secretary of the treasury and made a tool for forwarding his schemes, not then sufficiently understood by me; and of all the errors of my political life this has occasioned me the deepest regret. it has ever been my purpose to explain this to you, when, from being actors on the scene, we shall have become uninterested spectators only. the second part of my resolution has been religiously observed with the war department; & as to that of the Treasury, has never been farther swerved from than by the mere enunciation of my sentiments in conversation, and chiefly among those who, expressing the same sentiments, drew mine from me. if it has been supposed that I ever intrigued among the members of the legislature to defeat the plans of the Secretary of the Treasury, it is contrary to all truth, as I never had the desire to influence the members, so neither had I any other means than my friendships, which I valued too highly to risk by usurpations on their freedom of judgment, & the conscientious pursuit of their own sense of duty. that I have utterly, in my private conversations, disapproved of the system of the Secretary of the treasury, I acknolege & avow: and this was not merely a speculative difference. his system flowed from principles adverse to liberty, & was calculated to undermine and demolish the republic, by creating an influence of his department over the members of the legislature. I saw this influence actually produced, & it’s first fruits to be the establishment of the great outlines of his project by the votes of the very persons who, having swallowed his bait were laying themselves out to profit by his plans: & that had these persons withdrawn, as those interested in a question ever should, the vote of the disinterested majority was clearly the reverse of what they made it. these were no longer the votes then of the representatives of the people, but of deserters from the rights & interests of the people: & it was impossible to consider their decisions, which had nothing in view but to enrich themselves, as the measures of the fair majority which ought always to be respected. if what was actually doing begat uneasiness in those who wished for virtuous government, what was further proposed was not less threatening to the friends of the constitution. for, in a Report on the subject of manufactures, (still to be acted on) it was expressly assumed that the general government has a right

to exercise all powers which may be for the general welfare, that is to say, all the legitimate powers of government: since no government has a legitimate right to do what is not for the welfare of the governed. there was indeed a sham-limitation of the universality of this power to cases where money is to be employed. but about what is it that money cannot be employed? thus the object of these plans taken together is to draw all the powers of government into the hands of the general legislature, to establish means for corrupting a sufficient corps in that legislature to divide the honest votes & preponderate, by their own, the scale which suit⟨ed⟩, & to have that corps under the command of the Secretary of the Treasury for the purpose of subverting step by step the principles of the constitution, which he has so often declared to be a thing of nothing which must be changed. such views might have justified something more than mere expressions of dissent, beyond which, nevertheless, I never went. has abstinence from the department committed to me been equally observed by him? to say nothing of other interferences equally known, in the case of the two nations with which we have the most intimate connections, France & England, my system was to give some satisfactory distinctions to the former, of little cost to us, in return for the solid advantages yeilded us by them; & to have met the English with some restrictions which might induce them to abate their severities against our commerce. I have always supposed this coincided with your sentiments. yet the Secretary of the treasury, by his cabals with members of the legislature, & by hightoned declamation on other occasions, has forced down his own system, which was exactly the reverse. he undertook, of his own authority, the conferences with the ministers of these two nations, & was, on every consultation, provided with some report of a conversation with the one or the other of them, adapted to his views. these views thus made to prevail, their execution fell of course to me; & I can safely appeal to you, who have seen all my letters & proceedings, whether I have not carried them into execution as sincerely as if they had been my own, tho’ I ever considered them as inconsistent with the honor & interest of our country. that they have been inconsistent with our interest is but too fatally proved by the stab to our navigation given by the French. so that if the question be By whose fault is it that Colo. Hamilton & myself have not drawn together? the answer will depend

on that to two other questions; Whose Principles of administration best justify, by their purity, conscientious adherence? and Which of us has, notwithstanding, stepped farthest into the controul of the department of the other?
  To this justification of opinions, expressed in the way of conversation, against the views of Colo. Hamilton, I beg leave to add some notice of his late charges against me in Fenno’s gazette: for neither the stile, matter, nor venom of the pieces alluded to can leave a doubt of their author. spelling my name & character at full length to the public, while he conceals his own under the signature of ‘an American’ he charges me 1. with having written letters from Europe to my friends to oppose the present constitution while depending. 2. with a desire of not paying the public debt. 3. with setting up a paper to decry & slander the government. 1. the first charge is most false. no man in the U.S., I suppose, approved of every tittle in the constitution: no one, I believe approved more of it than I did: and more of it was certainly disapproved by my accuser than by me, and of it’s parts most vitally republican. of this the few letters I wrote on the subject (not half a dozen I believe) will be a proof: & for my own satisfaction & justification, I must tax you with the reading of them when I return to where they are. you will there see that my objection to the constitution was that it wanted a bill of rights securing freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom from standing armies trial by jury, & a constant Habeas corpus act. Colo. Hamilton’s was that it wanted a king and house of lords. the sense of America has approved my objection & added the bill of rights, not the king and lords. I also thought a longer term of service, insusceptible of renewal, would have made a President more independant. my country has thought otherwise, & I have acquiesced implicitly. he wished the general government should have power to make laws binding the states in all cases whatsoever. our country has thought otherwise: has he acquiesced? notwithstanding my wish for a bill of rights, my letters strongly urged the adoption of the constitution, by nine states at least, to secure the good it contained. I at first thought that the best method of securing the bill of rights would be for four states to hold off till such a bill should be agreed to. but the moment I saw mister Hancock’s proposition to pass the constitution as it stood, and give perpetual instructions to the representatives of every state

to insist on a bill of rights, I acknoleged the superiority of his plan, & advocated universal adoption. 2. the second charge is equally untrue. my whole correspondence while in France, & every word, letter, & act on the subject since my return, prove that no man is more ardently intent to see the public debt soon & sacredly paid off than I am. this exactly marks the difference between Colo. Hamilton’s views & mine, that I would wish the debt paid tomorrow; he wishes it never to be paid, but always to be a thing wherewith to corrupt & manage the legislature. 3. I have never enquired what number of sons, relations & friends of Senators, representatives, printers or other useful partisans Colo. Hamilton has provided for among the hundred clerks of his department, the thousand excisemen, customhouse officers, loan officers &c. &c. &c. appointed by him, or at his nod, and spread over the Union, nor could ever have imagined that the man who has the shuffling of millions backwards & forwards from paper into money & money into paper, from Europe to America, & America to Europe, the dealing out of Treasury secrets among his friends in what time & measure he pleases, and who never slips an occasion of making friends with his means, that such an one I say would have brought forward a charge against me for having appointed the poet Freneau translating clerk to my office, with a salary of 250. dollars a year. that fact stands thus. while the government was at New York I was applied to on behalf of Freneau to know if there was any place within my department to which he could be appointed. I answered there were but four clerkships, all of which I found full, and continued without any change. when we removed to Philadelphia, mister Pintard the translating clerk, did not chuse to remove with us. his office then became vacant. I was again applied to there for Freneau, & had no hesitation to promise the clerkship for him. I cannot recollect whether it was at the same time, or afterwards, that I was told he had a thought of setting up a newspaper there. but whether then or afterwards, I considered it as a circumstance of some value, as it might enable me to do, what I had long wished to have done, that is, to have the material parts of the Leyden gazette brought under your eye & that of the public, in order to possess yourself & them of a juster view of the affairs of Europe than could be obtained from any other public source. this I had ineffectually attempted through the press of mister

Fenno while in New York, selecting & translating passages myself at first, then having it done by mister Pintard the translating clerk. but they found their way too slowly into mister Fenno’s papers. mister Bache essayed it for me in Philadelphia; but his being a dayly paper, did not circulate sufficiently in the other states. he even tried at my request the plan of a weekly paper of recapitulation from his daily paper, in hopes that that might go into the other states, but in this too we failed. Freneau, as translating clerk, & the printer of a periodical paper likely to circulate thro’ the states (uniting in one person the parts of Pintard & Fenno) revived my hopes that the thing could at length be affected. on the establishment of his paper therefore, I furnished him with the Leyden gazettes, with an expression of my wish that he would always translate & publish the material intelligence they contained; & have continued to furnish them from time to time, as regularly as I recieved them. but as to any other direction or indication of my wish how his press should be conducted, what sort of intelligence he should give, what essays encourage, I can protest in the presence of heaven, that I never did by myself, or any other, directly or indirectly, say a syllable, nor attempt any kind of influence. I can further protest, in the same awful presence, that I never did by myself or any other, directly or indirectly, write, dictate or procure any one sentence or sentiment to be inserted in his, or any other gazette, to which my name was not affixed, or that of my office. I surely need not except here a thing so foreign to the present subject as a little paragraph about our Algerine captives, which I put once into Fenno’s paper. Freneau’s proposition to publish a paper, having been about the time that the writings of Publicola, & the discourses on Davila had a good deal excited the public attention, I took for granted from Freneau’s character, which had been marked as that of a good whig, that he would give free place to pieces written against the aristocratical & monarchical principles these papers had inculcated. this having been in my mind, it is likely enough I may have expressed it in conversation with others; tho’ I do not recollect that I did. to Freneau I think I could not, because I had still seen him but once, & that was at a public table, at breakfast, at mistress Elsworth’s, as I passed thro’ New York the last year. and I can safely declare that my expectations looked only to the chastisement of the aristocratical & monarchical writers, & not to any

    criticisms on the proceedings of the government. Colo. Hamilton can see no motive for any appointment but that of making a convenient partisan. but you Sir, who have recieved from me recommendations of a Rittenhouse, Barlow, Paine, will believe that talents & science are sufficient motives with me in appointments to which they are fitted: & that Freneau, as a man of genius, might find a preference in my eye to be a translating clerk, & make good title moreover to the little aids I could give him as the editor of a gazette, by procuring subscriptions to his paper, as I did, some, before it appeared, & as I have with pleasure done for the labours of other men of genius. I hold it to be one of the distinguishing excellencies of elective over hereditary successions, that the talents, which nature has provided in sufficient proportion, should be selected by the society for the government of their affairs, rather than that this should be transmitted through the loins of knaves & fools passing from the debauches of the table to those of the bed. Colo. Hamilton, alias ‘Plain facts’ says that Freneau’s salary began before he resided in Philadelphia. I do not know what quibble he may have in reserve on the word ‘residence’. he may mean to include under that idea the removal of his family; for I believe he removed, himself, before his family did, to Philadelphia but no act of mine gave commencement to his salary before he so far took up his abode in Philadelphia as to be sufficiently in readiness for the duties of the office. As to the merits or demerits of his paper, they certainly concern me not. he & Fenno are rivals for the public favor. the one courts them by flattery, the other by censure: & I believe it will be admitted that the one has been as servile, as the other severe. but is not the dignity, & even decency of government committed, when one of it’s principal ministers enlists himself as an anonymous writer or paragraphist for either the one or the other of them? no government ought to be without censors: & where the press is free, no one ever will. if virtuous, it need not fear the fair operation of attack & defence: nature has given to man no other means of sifting out the truth either in religion, law, or politics. I think it as honorable to the government neither to know nor notice it’s sycophants or censors, as it would be undignified & criminal to pamper the former & persecute the latter. So much for the past. a word now of the future.
When I came into this office, it was with a resolution to retire

from it as soon as I could with decency. it pretty early appeared to me that the proper moment would be the first of those epochs at which the constitution seems to have contemplated a periodical change or renewal of the public servants. in this I was confirmed by your resolution respecting the same period; from which however I am happy in hoping you have departed. I look to that period with the longing of a wave-worn mariner, who has at length the land in view, & shall count the days & hours which still lie between me & it. in the mean while my main object will be to wind up the business of my office avoiding as much as possible all new enterprize. with the affairs of the legislature, as I never did intermeddle, so I certainly shall not now begin. I am more desirous to predispose every thing for the repose to which I am withdrawing, than expose it to be disturbed by newspaper contests. if these however cannot be avoided altogether, yet a regard for your quiet will be a sufficient motive for deferring it till I become merely a private citizen, when the propriety or impropriety of what I may say or do may fall on myself alone. I may then too avoid the charge of misapplying that time which now belonging to those who employ me, should be wholly devoted to their service. if my own justification, or the interests of the republic shall require it, I reserve to myself the right of then appealing to my country, subscribing my name to whatever I write, & using with freedom & truth the facts & names necessary to place the cause in it’s just form before that tribunal. to a thorough disregard of the honors & emoluments of office, I join as great a value for the esteem of my countrymen; & conscious of having merited it by an integrity which cannot be reproached, & by an enthusiastic devotion to their rights & liberty, I will not suffer my retirement to be clouded by the slanders of a man whose history, from the moment at which history can stoop to notice him, is a tissue of machinations against the liberty of the country which has not only recieved and given him bread, but heaped it’s honors on his head. still however I repeat the hope that it will not be necessary to make such an appeal. though little known to the people of America, I believe that, as far as I am known, it is not as an enemy to the Republic, nor an intriguer against it; nor a waster of it’s revenue, nor prostitutor of it to the purposes of corruption, as the American represents me: and I confide that yourself are satisfied that, as to dissensions in the newspapers, not

a syllable of them has ever proceeded from me; & that no cabals or intrigues of mine have produced those in the legislature, & I hope I may promise, both to you & myself, that none will recieve aliment from me during the short space I have to remain in office, which will find ample employment in closing the present business of the department.
Observing that letters written at Mount Vernon on the Monday, & arriving at Richmond on the Wednesday, reach me on Saturday, I have now the honor to mention that the 22d instant will be the last of our post-days that I shall be here, & consequently that no letter from you after the 17th will find me here, soon after that I shall have the honor of receiving at Mount Vernon your orders for Philadelphia, & of there also delivering you the little matter which occurs to me as proper for the opening of Congress, exclusive of what has been recommended in former speeches & not yet acted on. in the mean time & ever I am with great and sincere affection & respect, dear Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant

Th: Jefferson


Title: To George Washington from Edmund Randolph, 10 September 1792
From: Randolph, Edmund
To: Washington, George

Dear Sir
Philadelphia Sepr 10. 1792.

When I had the honor of receiving your favor of the third instant, I was too much indisposed by a fever to answer it by the return of the mail.
The movements, said to be meditated at the next session of the Virginia assembly, are the disfranchisement of the excise-officers, by taking from them the right of suffrage, and also the establishment of a state-bank, in opposition to the Branch Bank. Since I

wrote to you last, Mr Andrews, the delegate for Williamsburg has been here; and contradicted most of the hostile reports, which had come from the mouth of Mr Corbin. Still, however, it seems probable, that the legislature will so far oppose the Branch-bank, as to refuse to permit a higher interest than five per cent: to be received, or to repeal the act, which prohibits the circulation of bank notes. It surprizes me, I confess, that these should be considered as obstacles; since no-body means to dispute, according to my information, the validity of the law itself, now that it is passed, and is in operation. At a late court in Chester County, in this state several persons were indicted for an assault on an excise officer. Notwithstanding a strong defence, they were convicted and fined; the jury having said to the attorney-general, that it was not a question with them, whether the law was good, or bad; but that they would never countenance an opposition to laws in such a form. This event, which I shall endeavour to have published with all its circumstances, will increase the abhorrence, which several of the very party, who are associated with Gallatin and Smilie, feel themselves compelled to express, in order to avoid the imputation of a love of anarchy. The probability is, that the proceedings at Pittsburg will contribute to defeat the ticket, which has been proposed by that party. I have the honor, dear sir, to be with the most affectionate attachment yr obliged & obedient serv.

Edm: Randolph


Title: To George Washington from Alexander Hamilton, 11 September 1792
From: Hamilton, Alexander
To: Washington, George

Sir
Philadelphia Sepr 11. 1792

Herewith is an official letter submitting the draft of a Proclamation. I reserve some observations as most proper for a private letter.
In the case of a former proclamation I observe it was under the seal of the U. States and countersigned by the Secretary of State. If the precedent was now to be formed I should express a doubt whether it was such an instrument as ought to be under the seal of the U. States; and I believe usage as well in this Country under the state Government as in Great Britain would be found against it; but the practice having been begun there are many reasons which in this instance recommend an adherence to it—and the form of the attestation is adapted to this idea.
But still if the Secretary of State should be at so great a distance or if an uncertainty of his being in the way should involve the probability of considerable delay it will be well to consider if the precedent ought not to be departed from. In this case the Attestation

would require to be varied so as to omit from the words “In testimony” to the words “my hand” inclusively—and to substitute the word “Given” to “Done” and it may be adviseable to direct the Atty General to countersign it.
Every day’s delay will render the Act less impressive & defeat a part of its object.
The propriety of issuing the proclamation depends of course upon a resolution to act in conformity to it and put in force all the powers and means with which the Executive is possessed as occasion shall require—My own mind is made up fully to this issue and on this my suggestion of the measure is founded—Your letter by the last Post, confirming former intimations, assures me that you view the matter in the same light.
The words in the Proclamation “dictated by weighty reasons of public exigency and policy” are not essential to the general scope of it—They amount to an additional commitment of the President on the question of the merits of the law and will require to be well considered.
That the Proclamation both as to manner and matter will be criticised cannot be matter of surprise if it should happen, to any one who is aware of the lengths to which a certain party is prepared to go—It ought to be anticipated as probable.
In a step so delicate & so full of responsibility, I thought it my duty to make these observations; though I was sure they would of themselves occur.
It is satisfactory to know that a Jury in Chester County in this state convicted a person who was guilty of assaulting an Officer of Inspection. On being interrogated they answered that they had found him guilty upon the Count in the Indictment which charged him with assaulting the Officer in the execution of his duty—that the law was a constitutional act of Government and was not to be resisted by violence—I have directed Mr Coxe to collect & publish the particulars. The symptom is a good one. With the most faithful & affectionate attachment I have the honor to remain Sir Yr obedt & hum. Srvt

A. Hamilton


Title: To George Washington from David Stuart, 11 September 1792
From: Stuart, David
To: Washington, George

Dear Sir,
Hope Park [Va.] 11th Sept. 92

I have recieved so much pleasure and instruction from the inclosed observations, that I could wish the author would in some shape fan on the Public with them. I am satisfyed more than ever, that fiew even of those who presume most on their talents, and are most clamorous and illiberal against the funding System, have a true understanding of it. But allowing that they have, and are activated in their opposition to it, by improper motives, so plain a development of its principles, and superiority to the Systems which have been opposed to it, would deprive them of the reason of misleading those who are well intentioned—The high opinion entertained of Mr Maddison’s abilities, and Jefferson’s, have induced most of us I suspect to nourish the prejudices we have against it—As talents for finance, are of a particular nature, and not often combined with considerable abilities in other respects, it is a question with me whether even they understand it well—It is clear, at least to me at present, that their Systems would have been equally mischievous, indeed more so, in fostering speculation, while it would have been defective as to it’s object—It is essential at thi⟨s⟩ m⟨o⟩ment th⟨at⟩ the people s⟨hould⟩ be well informed; but such is the chain of misrepresentations about the funding System, and bank, that fiew who wish well to the government, are able to detect them fully particularly when resting on great State authorities. I am Dr Sir, with great respect Your Affecte Servt

Dd Stuart.


Title: To George Washington from Ferdinand Bayard, 15 September 1792
From: Bayard, Ferdinand
To: Washington, George

Sir
Baltimore September 15 92.

to the desire of being useful, both to America & France, this intrusion of mine is to be accounted for, & your tryed love to the rights of Man, Keeps alive the hope, that the generous & honorable project of forming a corps of American volunteers, to join the french, will be approved & supported by you.
as it has been publickly circulated, I doubt not but you are acquainted with that wish of many of your countrymen; & as their attachement to you is adequate to the services you paid your country, an expression of your desire, to see it realized, would bring to existence what may be now, but an effusion of gratitude & virtue.
the benefits the two people would gather from it, are reciprocal & obvious, & lest I should be thought wanting confidence in the generosity of the american, I will pass those to their share unnoticed.
few men added to the numbers of the French may be considered as of litle or no service to their Cause, with them who would appreciate the gift, with arithmetical rules—but with men who rely on the moral strenght, it will appear that those few will add energy, their good discipline have a salutary influence & that it may be an inducement to the friends of liberty scatered through Europe, to do the same. and as it is not so much the number of men, as their character, which determines their value, I may say without flattery, that the american corps should be worth reckoning.
the cause is a glorious one—the old world is interested in the strugle; for universal freedom or slavery must be the consequence.

the American corps of Volunteers, may be raised by individuals, to save government some inconveniences which may result from its interfering & that way would be the most expedite as well as the most brotherly.
your exertions, Sir, have exalted you above the reach of the most extravagant ⟨de⟩sires of pride & selfishness; but virtue you are indebted for it, like its parent, Knows no limits—why George Washington should not be as active for the liberty of Europe, as he has been for that of America? & while I think, that it was not so much the enjoyings of political & civil blessings which endared it to you, as the consciousness of its being the only mode, wherein, man can reach again his state of native dignity, I rest assured of your good will & support. may heaven bless the old world with your exertions, as ⟨it⟩ did the new, is the daily prayer, Sir of your admirer

Ferdinand Bayard


Title: To George Washington from Henry Knox, 15 September 1792
From: Knox, Henry
To: Washington, George

Sir
War department September 15th 1792

I have had the honor to receive yours of the 7th instant and I have transmitted a copy of it to Major General Wayne.
I have the honor to enclose you a copy of his last letter of the 7th instant. No. 1. and my answer thereto No. 2. From every account, I learn that he is indefatigable in disciplining his troops.
Money to the amount of Forty five thousand six hundred and thirty seven dollars and thirty three Cents to complete the pay to the first of August left this town yesterday under the charge of two careful men—I had previously desired General Wayne to have an escort at Bedford by the 20th for the purpose of escorting the money from that place to Pittsburg—and at the request of the Secretary of the Treasury I wrote to the Officer the enclosed Note No. 3 and to General Wayne No. 4. both of which I hope will meet your approbation.
As soon as the Waters of the Ohio will permit, General Wayne will forward a respectable detachment from Pittsburgh including those rifle Companies raised on the South Western frontiers of Virginia, to Fort Washington.
All our pacific overtures to the Indians have been marked with misfortune excepting Captain Hendricks they have all miscarried whether conducted by Whites or Indians—The enclosed letter which I have this moment received from General Chapin

No. 5. gives the account of the death of Good Peter and the sickness of Captain Brant, besides the death of others of our friends.
The enclosed letter No. 6 from Governor Lee however will show that affairs are more tranquil on the South western frontier than they were expected to be by him.
The Messieurs Dunn and Jones who are recommended by General Wayne were early applicants for commissions, but upon the failure of their applications they both joined as Sergeants in the dragoons on the hope of promotion conditioned on their good behaviour—there will be vacancies to be filled and they may upon further trial be promoted—Joseph Richardson mentioned by Mr Spriggs in his letter to you will be in the same predicament.
I am inclined to the opinion that the orders to General Wayne for the ulterior disposition of his troops for winter may be delayed sometime without any injury—perhaps until your arrival here—but the preparations may be making of the materials for barracks.
It was not until yesterday that all evidences in behalf of General St Clair against Ensign Morgan were delivered to this office—Until the evidences were forwarded, I conceived it unnecessary to order him on to the Army to undergo his trial—But as the case is now circumstanced I think no further delay should be permitted. It is probable however he will attempt to evade or disobey the order unless it is given explicitly in your name—This opinion is founded on a conversation which took place between his father and Major Stagg a few days ago. The father said his Son intended to present a memorial to you requesting that he might have his trial in this City, saying it was a matter of great importance in the minds of the people at large, and that he should prefer its being held during the session of Congress.
If after receiving your ultimate orders he should disobey them, he will place himself in a new and more critical situation—and in this event it will become a consideration what steps shall be taken upon the subject.
Whether to add this new charge to those made by General St Clair and use force to convey him to Pittsburg or whether to dismiss him the service without further process—Although in the event contemplated, no doubt could be entertained of the abstract

propriety of compelling Ensign Morgan to take his trial according to law, yet considering the clamour that such a strong measure might excite, together with the probable severity of his punishment, it may be perhaps be politically expedient to adopt the second alternative.
Colonel Fish has declined the office of Adjutant General as by his letter will appear No. 7. Colonel Sproat has signified his desire of that office. Colonel Posey has also been mentioned[.] It seems necessary that it should be filled immediately. I have the honor sir to be with the highest respect Your obedient Servant

H. Knox


Title: Proclamation, 15 September 1792
From: Washington, George
To:

[15 September 1792]

By the Presdent of the United States. A Proclamation.
Whereas certain violent and unwarrantable proceedings have lately taken place, tending to obstruct the operation of the laws of the United States for raising a revenue upon Spirits distilled within the same, enacted pursuant to express authority delegated in the Constitution of the United States; which proceedings are subversive of good order, contrary to the duty that every Citizen

owes to his Country and to the laws, and of a nature dangerous to the very being of Government: And whereas such proceedings are the more unwarrantable, by reason of the moderation which has been heretofore shewn on the part of the Government, and of the disposition which has been manifested by the Legislature (who alone have authority to suspend the operation of laws) to obviate causes of objection, and to render the laws as acceptable as possible. and whereas it is the particular duty of the Executive “to take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” and not only that duty, but the permanent interests and happiness of the people require, that every legal and necessary step should be pursued as well to prevent such violent and unwarrantable proceedings, as to bring to justice the infractors of the laws and secure obedience thereto.
Now therefore I George Washington, President of the United States, do by these presents most earnestly admonish and exhort all persons whom it may concern, to refrain and desist from all unlawful combinations and proceedings whatsoever, having for object or tending to obstruct the operation of the laws aforesaid; inasmuch as all lawful ways and means will be strictly put in execution, for bringing to justice the infractors thereof and securing obedience thereto.
And I do moreover charge and require all Courts, Magistrates and Officers whom it may concern, according to the duties of their several Offices, to exert the powers in them respectively vested by law for the purposes aforesaid, hereby also enjoining and requiring all persons whomsoever, as they tender the welfare of their Country, the just and due authority of Government and the preservation of the public peace, to be aiding and assisting therein, according to law.
In Testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand. Done this fifteenth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety two, and of the independence of the United States the seventeenth.

Geo. Washington
By the PresidentTh. Jefferson.


Title: From George Washington to Henry Knox, 16 September 1792
From: Washington, George
To: Knox, Henry

Sir,
Mt Vernon Sepr 16th 1792

Your letter of the 8th, with its enclosures, came duly to hand; & requires but little in reply to it, as your answer to Genl Waynes communications contain every direction which is necessary for his governmt at this time.
Whatever may be the Attorney General’s opinion with respect to the legality of calling out Militia by the Governor of Pennsylvania—for supplying the place of the Rangers—it is not an easy matter, under the circumstances which now do and have existed during the summer, to discover any necessaty for the measure; especially if the order was subsequent to your solution of his queries.
Captn Brants letter, and the Speech of the Chiefs of the Six Nations to Genl Chapin, is no more than a continuation of the Evidence, which, long since, has established a fact, & left no doubt in my mind, of the causes to which all our difficulties with the Western Indians are to be ascribed; and I am equally clear that the period is not very distant when this business will assume a less disguised appearance.
Have you received any answer yet from Major Fish respecting the offer that was made him of the Office of Adjutant General? This matter has been too long suspended—With esteem & regd I am Sir, Yr Hble Servt

G. W——n


Title: From George Washington to Alexander Hamilton, 17 September 1792
From: Washington, George
To: Hamilton, Alexander

Sir,
Mount Vernon Septr 17th 1792.

Your Letters of the 8 and 9. inst: are received. The latter came to me on Saturday morning by Express, from the Post Office in Alexandria. I gave the Proclamation my signature and forwarded it in the afternoon of the same day, by a special messenger, to the Secretary of State for his countersign. If no unforeseen delay happens, the return of it may be in time for Friday’s Post, so as to be with you the Tuesday following.
It is much to be regretted that occurrences of a nature so repugnant to order and good Government, should not only afford the occasion, but render such an interference of the Executive indispensably necessary. When these happen, and lenient & temporizing means have been used, and serve only to increase the disorder; longer forbearance would become unjustifiable remissness, and a neglect of that duty which is enjoined on the President. I can have no hesitation therefore, under this view of the case, to adopt such legal measures to check the disorderly opposition which is given to the execution of the Laws laying a duty on distilled spirits, as the Constitution has invested the executive with; and however painful the measure would be, if the Proclamation should fail to produce the effect desired, ulterior arrangements must be made to support the Laws, & to prevent the prostration of Government.
Were it not for the peculiar circumstances of my family, I would return to the Seat of Government immediately; at any rate I hope to do it in the early part of next month, or before the middle thereof. With esteem & regard, I am &c.

G: Washington


Title: From George Washington to Alexander Hamilton, 17 September 1792
From: Washington, George
To: Hamilton, Alexander

(Private)
My dear Sir,Mount Vernon Sepr 17th 1792
Your private letter of the 11th, accompanying an Official one of the 9th came safe—as did your other private letter of the 9th. I feel myself obliged by the observations contained in the first, respecting the Proclamation.
As the former Proclamations, on similar occasions, have been Countersigned by the Secretary of State, I have, for that reason, and for another which has some weight in my mind, thought best not to depart, in this instance, from the Precedent that has been set; and therefore, as it cannot (unless unforeseen delays happen) be with-held from you more than six days longer than if it had been returned by this days Post, I dispatched by express the Proclamation to Mr Jefferson for the purpose abovementioned.
I have no doubt but that the Proclamation will undergo many strictures—and, as the effect proposed may not be answered by it; it will be necessary to look forward in time to ulterior arrangements. and here, not only the Constitution & Laws must strictly govern—but the employing of the regular Troops avoided, if it be possible to effect order without their aid; otherwise, there would be a cry at once “The cat is let out; We now see for what purpose an Army was raised”—Yet, if no other means will effectually answer, and the Constitution & Laws will authorise these, they must be used, in the dernier resort.
If you remain in opinion that it would be advisable for the President to transmit the Proclamation to the Governors of North & South Carolina—and the Governor of Pennsylvania, I pray you to draught such letters to them, to be forwarded from hence (with the Proclamations which must also be sent to me) as you may think best calculated to produce the effect proposed. I am always Your Affectionate

Go: Washington


Title: To George Washington from Alexander Hamilton, 17 September 1792
From: Hamilton, Alexander
To: Washington, George

Sir,
Treasury Departmt 17th Septr 1792.

Representations have been made by the Collector of the Customs at Edenton, and the Inspector of the Revenue for the third Survey of North Carolina, that Thomas Davis Freeman Surveyor of the Port of Plymouth and Inspector of the Revenue for the same, has been absent from that Port since February last. As it is stated in those representations, that it is not known whither that Officer has gone, and that it is not believed he will ever return, there is great probability that the public service will continue to suffer, unless the President on a knowledge of the circumstances, shall think proper to appoint some other suitable person to perform the duties of those offices. The name of Mr Jno. Armistead having been mentioned by the Collector & Inspector, with a reference to the Honorable Mr Johnston of the Senate of the United States, of which Gentleman enquiry has been made: He represents Mr Armistead as bred to Navigation and acquainted with business—as an old Inhabitant of the place, of good character & competent property. In regard to qualifications he spoke of him not only as a suitable person for the offices to be filled, but the most so of any Inhabitant of Plymouth. I have the honor to be &c.

Alexr Hamilton


Title: To George Washington from Isaac Mansfield, 19 September 1792
From: Mansfield, Isaac
To: Washington, George

May it please your Excellency,
Marblehead [Mass.]Sepr 19. 1792

I had the Honour of serving as a Chaplain in the late Army of the United States under your Command—I was introduced to the Regiment under the Command of Genl Thomas in October 1775.
The same Regiment commanded by Coll J. Bailey after Jan. 1. 1776 (which Coll J. Bailey had been Commandant under Genl Thomas) I was continued with, till they moved on from Roxbury to New York in March 1776.
Directions were given in your general Orders in December 1775 that no Return was to be made of a Chaplain till further Orders; because, it having been proposed to Congress that each Chaplain should have the Charge of two Regiments with £10 pr Month they, the Congress had not advised you thereon.
On Feb. 7. 1776 Directions were given in your general Orders in the Words following—“The Continental Congress have been pleased to order & direct that there shall be but one Chaplain to two Regiments, and that the Pay to each Chaplain shall be 33⅓ Dollars pr Calendar Month.” Having never received my Pay, Application has been made to Congress; & after having laid before them the two last Sessions—the Settlement seems now to be referred to the Pay Master.
Notwithstanding a Commission from you with which I was honoured dated Apr. 1. 1776 & appointing me Chaplain to two Regiments speaks for itself, the Matter labours on this account I perceive; the Pay Master does not observe by any Resolve of Congress that the pay of Chaplains was augmented or their Service increased by an additional Regiment till July 1776.
The Design of my addressing your Excellency at present is to

request a Copy of the Directions in your general Orders beforementioned attested by your Secretary or authenticated in the usual way, which Copy I presume will answer as a sufficient Document.
I have apprehended that there is an Arrearage in respect of Rations, but I perceive that the Pay Master is of Opinion that no Allowance is to be made on that account notwithstanding I have candidly pointed him to a Receit I once gave for some R⟨a⟩tion Money; if not too troublesome shall ⟨be⟩ very much obliged by your Advice thereon likewise.
In the Close of 1776 Sir, I retired f⟨rom⟩ the more public Service of our Country & settled in the Ministry at Exeter in [New] Hampshire; having left that place b⟨y⟩ mutual Agreement I became an Inhabitant of this Town with a purpose, under the Direction of my late Father who was for many years before & since the Revolution a Practitioner at Law, to qualify myself for usefulness in the civil Line. I should now esteem it a very great Favour to be on, the List of Candidates for any Appointment within your own Direction; & hope if honoured by any Appointment I should be able to recommend myself by Fidelity in the Discharge of its Duties.
Wishing you the continued Care of that kind Providence which has guided & so eminently protected you thro’ Life thus far, I conclude Your’s with great Respect

Isaac Mansfield


Title: To George Washington from John Vaughan, 19 September 1792
From: Vaughan, John
To: Washington, George

Philadelphia 19. Sep. 1792

Mr Vaughan has the honor of transmitting to his Excellency President Washington a letter he received under Cover from England—The accounts from france are later than what are probably contained in the letter, & Not So Satisfactory as those Mr Vaughan recd by the same opportunity.


Title: From George Washington to Samuel Fraunces, 21 September 1792 [letter not found]
From: Washington, George
To: Fraunces, Samuel

 Letter not found: to Samuel Fraunces, 21 Sept. 1792. GW wrote Tobias Lear on 21 Sept. from Mount Vernon: “Not knowing what delays you may have met with on the Road, I have directed Mr Francis in a letter of this date, to engage Mr Page’s Coach to be here, to accomodate our journey to Philadelphia.”


Title: From George Washington to George Gale, 21 September 1792
From: Washington, George
To: Gale, George

(Private)
Dear Sir,Mount Vernon Sep. 21st 1792
Your letter of the 4th Instt came duly to hand, but previous to the receipt of it I had been under the necessity of giving the Secy of the Treasury some direction for the Commd of the Revenue Cutter of Maryland, I am not less obliged however by the trouble you have been at to obtain the information you gave me on this point.
I would thank you for relating, in as precise terms as you can recollect, what you told me (as I passed through Baltimore) Colo. Mercer had said of my Sentiments respecting his Speeches opinions & Conduct in Congress—and the manner in which he had come at or had understood them to be mine. With much esteem I am—Dr Sir Yr Obedt Hble Servt

Go: Washington


Title: From George Washington to John Lewis, 21 September 1792
From: Washington, George
To: Lewis, John

Dr Sir,
Mount Vernon Septr 21st 1792.

I have sent your brother Howell to Fredericksburgh to receive from you my moiety of the money which has been paid to you by Mr Cooper for the Land in Gates County No. Carolina. I expect it will be fully paid; and a statement of the Accots rendered, by

which I can here after settle with, and receive whatever may be due for my part, from Mr Cooper, without giving you any further trouble in the receipt of it. An exact statement of the Agreement, and of the account with him, therefore, becomes necessary in order to enable me to do this. I am &c.

G: Washington


Title: From George Washington to James McHenry, 21 September 1792
From: Washington, George
To: McHenry, James

(Private)
Dear Sir,Mount Vernon Septr 21st [1792].
Fearing some accident may have prevented my last (enclosing a letter for Mr Robt Smith) from reaching your hands, I take the liberty of giving you the trouble to receive this, requesting to be informed if this be the fact—and if not, what has been the result of your enquiries in the business Committed to you.
I have had many applications in favor of Mr Hollingsworth as a fit character for the Attorney, and lately, one from the District Judge in his behalf. No answer has been given to any of them, awaiting to hear from you first. With Sincere esteem & regard I am—Dear Sir Yr Affecte & Obedt Servt

Go. Washington


Title: To George Washington from Aiguillon, 24 September 1792
From: Aiguillon, Armand-Désirée Duplessis-Richelieu d’Agenois, duc d’
To: Washington, George

Sir,
Zurich—[24 7bre 1792]the 4th year of french liberty

Permit a Frenchman, who loves liberty, and is forced to quit his Country—a prey to factions, to offer his homage to the respectable man who has given a free Constitution to America. Perhaps my name may have reached you. Perhaps you have sometimes heard me spoken of as the friend of Lafayette—faithful, like him, to the cause which he cherished—and like him prosecuted by those who would substitute for despotism the horrors of Anarchy.

I thought it my duty to quit my Country when all the oaths which attached me to it were violated. See the motives which decided me. You will find them with this which I have the honor to address to you. It will be sweet for me to obtain your suffrage—and to know that my conduct is approved by you. the esteem of Washington will console me in my retreat, under the prosecutions which I have suffered & the misfortunes which surround me. I pray you accept the homage of my veneration & attachment

Richelieu [d]’Aiguillon

P.S. I set out for London. Perhaps circumstances may conduct me to the land of liberty where you dwell. If you do me the honor to answer this, will you have the goodness to address your letter to London—to be left in the Post Office.


Title: From George Washington to Henry Knox, 24 September 1792
From: Washington, George
To: Knox, Henry

Sir,
Mount Vernon Sepr 24th 1792

Your letter of the 15th instt, with its enclosures, came duly to hand.
It is exceedingly to be regretted that all the attempts of Government

to bring the hostile Indians acquainted with the real designs of it—(so far as it respects the disputes with them)—should be so pointedly marked with misfortune, disappoint or delay. Captn Brants illness, and the sickness & delays of the other Chiefs of the Six Nations, are inauspicious of a favourable result; for much is not to be expected from the single attempt of Captn Hendricks however zealously he may labour in the Cause of humanity & Peace; and as prest appearances are so ominous of a continuation of the War, no pains, nor no expence within the bounds of moderation ought to go unessayed to ascertain the nature, extent and strength of the Confederation against which we are to contend; that our measures may be regulated accordingly. Without a competent knowledge of these facts we shall grope in the dark; and may meet disaster when danger is not expected. To this end General Wayne should be particularly instructed—and the Indian Agents also—Nor would it be amiss if some expedient could be devis’d to obtain intelligence from Detroit, that the British accts of these matters might be likewise known. From the nature, & circumstances of this War good information is scarcely to be obtained, at least not to be relied on, but from a comparison of the intelligence which is obtained through different channels.
In your letter to Genl Wayne of the 7th instt, Copy of which is among the enclosures you have forwarded to me, he is informed, that you will “immediately write to the President of the U. States & request his orders on certain conditional Statements relatively to the proportion of Troops which may probably be necessary to retain in the upper parts of the Ohio.” No such statement is yet come to my hands—of course I am unprovided with the means by which to form a judgment on this head; but under my present view of the matter, & the uncertainty in which we seem to be of the final & positive result of the grand Council of the Indians, holden at the Miami, the longer the decision is with-held the better; provided sufficient time is allowed the Troops to cover themselves comfortably for the Winter. And here, while it occurs, let me ask why the same kind of Huts, & mode of covering that was adopted by the army last War may not be again practiced, except permanent Barracks, for sufficient Garrisons, at the established Posts. If Scantling, Brick, &ca are to be provided by the Qr Master it will be attended with considerable expence, and if for

a temporary purpose only will be thought injudiciously incurred; and besides, how can this be done, conveniently, before the dispos[it]ion of the Troops is resolved on?
I am in sentiment with you, that Sub-Legionary Pay masters, and Sub-legionary Adjutants (the latter aided by the Sergeant Majors) are competent to their respective duties without Battalion Officers of this description—at any rate I conceive that the experiment ought to be made with the latter in the 1st inste. My observation on every employment in life is, that wherever, and whenever one person is found adequate to the discharge of a duty by close application thereto it is worse executed by two persons—and scarcely done at all if three or more are employed therein, besides, as you have very properly observed, the danger of money is encreased in proportion to the number of hands into which it is committed.
As Major Fish declines the Office of Adjutant General, & Colo. Sproat who (I believe) is on the Spot, is willing to accept it, I have no objection to his entering on the duties; provided it is known that he is a man of liberal education and correct in his writings—doubts of these qualifications in Colo. Posey are the only obstacles to my giving him a preference to any other.
I have no objections to Sergeants Dunn & Jones filling vacant Ensigncies if they have given sufficient evidence of their fitness; but as there have been some impositions already in people of this Class I recommend strict caution in future—Richardson Should be mentioned to Genl Wayne, that his behaviour may be noticed. A likely young man in Alexandria of the name of Turner, has been strongly recommended to me for an Ensigncy—It is said (among other things in his favor) that a number of young, country born men would enlist under him. I have answered, let him “ascertain that fact, and then apply with the list of them.”
If the Evidence in the case of Ensign Morgan is all given in, it becomes proper he should be ordered to the Army for his trial—& if it is necessary in this case, & will not be establishing an unusual, & bad precedent to do it in the name of the President, I have no objection to the measure. If discretion was a trait of this Officers character or fairness the view of his Advisers, I should hope he would abandon the idea of presenting a Memorial to be tried in Philadelphia or that he wd hesitate a moment to go where he is ordered; if, however, the latter should happen, it would be

well, before it is reported to me to have him & his friends admonished in a friendly way of the consequences that must follow disobedience; for neither the Military or Civil government shall be trampled upon with impunity whilst I have the honor to be at the head of them. I have no objections to his being tried at Pittsburg, and if their is no reasons opposed to it (unknown to me) I wd advise it. That it cannot happen in Philadelphia is certain—military Propriety, the public Service[,] convenience, & the precedent such a measure would establish are so strongly opposed to it that it is wonderful, he should ever have sufferd the idea to enter into his mind. Why might not another Officer, if endulgence was granted in this instance, apply for a similar one—nay, why not to be carried to Boston, or Charleston as inclination on the expectation of benefits to be derived from it, might prompt.
I perceive in the copy of General Wayne’s letter to you beforementioned, that there has been some remissness on the part of the Contractors at Pittsburgh. This ought not to be suffered in the smallest degree, for one neglect or omission, is too apt to beget another, to the discontentment of the Troops & injury of the Service; whereas a rigid exac⟨tion⟩ in every case checks a departure on their par⟨t⟩ from the Contract in any and no indulgence is ever allowed by them to the p⟨ublic⟩. In a former letter led thereto by the observations of Mr Belli I requested that some consideration might be besto⟨wed⟩ on the mode suggested by him of supplying the Troops by means of a Commissary; but I have heard nothing from you on the Subject since.
The Orders given to the Officer who commanded the Escort of money, and to Genl Wayne, respecting the Supervisor appear to have resulted from necessary precaution, and if war⟨r⟩anted by the Constitution & Laws, were undoubtedly proper; and of course are approved. With esteem I am &ca

G. W——n


Title: From George Washington to Henry Knox, 24 September 1792
From: Washington, George
To: Knox, Henry

(Private)
My dear Sir,Mount Vernon Septr 24 92
I thank you for the information contained in your private letters of the 16th & 18th instt—From the contents of the last, it is probable Mr Hammond will be here to day, or tomorrow before Noon.
I perceive by the Papers that Mr Penn & lady are arrived—and with them, Mr Andrew Hamilton & family. What, pray, has been the reception of the last mentioned Gentleman by the Officers of the State Government (particularly the Govr)—Mr Morris &ca? I wish to be pretty accurately informed of this before my arrival; because, as he is considered as one of the obnoxious characters

of the State of Pennsylvania, a little circumspection on the part of the President of the U. States may be necessary.
I hope Mrs Knox & your family were well when you last heard from them. My poor Nephew though a little better is scarcely able to walk—If he should recover strength enough to bear the ride it is recommended to him to spend the Winter in the lower parts of the State where the Weather is more temperate than it is at Mount Vernon. But the chances are much against this.
I still hold to my resolution of leaving this for Philadelphia about the 8th or 9th of next month, if the Situation of my family & Servants does not absolutely prevent it; for, never since I have lived at this place has the remitting fever been so prevalent as it has this year. Sincerely & Affectionately I am always Yours

Go: Washington

P.S. Since writing the foregoing, Messrs Hammond & Smith are arrived at this place.


Title: To George Washington from Betty Washington Lewis, 25 September 1792
From: Lewis, Betty Washington
To: Washington, George

My Dear Brother
Sepbr 25th 1792

My Indisposition for some time Past prevented my writing to you when Howell did, finding my self better to day, I shall endeavour to answer your request of my takeing Harriot to stay with me this winter. I shall have no objection to her being with me, if she comes well cloath’d or Provided to get them, that she may appear tolerable for I can assure you it was not so while with me before, by which means she was prevented frequently from appearing in publick—when it would have been my wish she should.
A Little money laid out in cloaths at this time may be an advantage—I am sorry it will not be in my Power to advance any, haveing at this time three of my Grandchildren to support, and god knows from every Account but I may expect as many more shortly, [(]Fieldings is so distrest that his Childrer would go naked if it was not for the assistance I give him) I am happy to hear by Howell that you and my Sister keep in good health, I sincerely

wish a continuance of it, I never had a more Sickly family in my life, than I have had this fall. I shall set out in a few day’s to see my Daughter Carter in Albermarl, I think the change of air may be of service[.] I shall return in a few weeks, when I shall be glad to see Harriot Present my Love to my Sister and the rest of the family, and Except the sincere good wishis of your Affe⟨c⟩et. Sister

Betty Lewis


Title: To George Washington from Alexander Hamilton, 26 September 1792
From: Hamilton, Alexander
To: Washington, George

Sir,
Treasury Departmt Septr 26th 1792.

The Post of yesterday brought me your letter of the 21st instant, with the Proclamation enclosed, which was immediately published through the Secretary of State’s Office, in Brown’s Federal Gazette; and means will be taken to accelerate a general circulation of it. I have the honor to be with the highest respect & truest attachment, Sir, Your most Obedient and humble servant

Alexander Hamilton


Title: From George Washington to John Francis Mercer, 26 September 1792
From: Washington, George
To: Mercer, John Francis

Sir,
Mount Vernon Septr 26. 1792.

Your Letter of the 15th inst: was presented to me by Mr Corbin, on his return from Philada.
As my object in taking your Land near Monocasy (in payment of the Debt due from the Estate of your deceased Father to me) is to convert it into Cash as soon as possible without loss, I can have no other objection to an advantageous partition of the Tract than what might result from the uncertainty of the price that may be affixed to it, and the consequent possibility that the amount of a moiety may exceed the sum which is due to me by the last settlement of the Accots—thereby occasioning a payment of money, instead of receiving it. If these difficulties were removed, I have none other to your proposal of dividing the Tract into two equal parts, & fixing the property therein by lot. A mean of doing this, I will suggest. It is—if you have not heard the sentiments of the Gentlemen, or either of them, who were chosen to affix a ready money price on the Land (& I give you my honor I have not, and moreover that I have never exchanged a word on the subject with any one, except what I told you was Colo. Wm Deakins’s opinion of it’s worth)—I will allow you seven Dollars pr acre for a moiety; to be ascertained in the manner before mentioned. I name seven dollars for the following reasons—1st because I have been assured by the above Gentleman (who professes to be well acquainted with the Land) that, in his judgment, it would not sell for more than six Dollars Cash, or seven dollars on credit; & 2d because you have set it at Eight Dollars your self, without being able to obtain that price. Five hundred & fifty acres (if the tract contains 1100) would then be within the compass of my claim; & the surplus, if any, I would receive in young Cows, or full grown heifers from Marlborough at three pounds a head, if more agreeable to you than to pay the Cash—Your answer to this proposal, soon, would be convenient to me, as I shall be on my return to Philada in a short time.
I come now to another part of your Letter, and in touching

upon it, do not scruple to declare to you that I was not a little displeased to find by a letter from Captn Campbell, to a Gentleman in this neighbourhood, that my name had been freely used by you, or your friends, for electioneering purposes, when I had never associated your name & the Election together; and when there had been the most scrupulous & pointed caution observed on my part, not to express a sentiment respecting the fitness, or unfitness of any Candidate for representation, that could be construed, by the most violent torture of the words, into an interference in favor of one, or to the prejudice of another. Conceiving that the exercise of an influence (if I really possessed any) however remote, would be highly improper; as the people ought to be entirely at liberty to chuse whom they pleased to represent them in Congress. Having pursued this line of conduct steadily—my surprise, and consequent declaration can be a matter of no wonder. when I read the following words in the letter above alluded to—“I arrived yesterday from Philadelphia, since which I find Colo. Mercer has openly declared, that Mr Richd Sprigg junr informed him, that Bushrod Washington told him that the President in his presence declared, that he hoped Colo. Mercer would not be left out of the next representation in Congress; and added that he thought him the best representative that now goes, or ever did go to that Body from this State.”
I instantly declared to the person who shewed me the letter, “that to the best of my recollection, I never had exchanged a word to, or before Bushrod Washington on the subject of your Election—much less to have given such a decided opinion. That such a measure would have been incompatible with the rule I had prescrib’d to myself, & which I had invariably observed—of not interfering directly or indirectly with the suffrages of the People, in the choice of their representatives: and added, that I wished B. Washington might be called upon to certify what, or whether any conversation had ever passed between us on this subject, as it was my desire that every thing should stand upon it’s proper foundation.” Other sentiments have been reported as mine, that are equally erroneous.
Whether you have, upon any occasion, expressed your self in disrespectful terms of me, I know not: it has never been the subject of my enquiry. If nothing impeaching my honor, or honesty, is said, I care little for the rest. I have pursued one uniform course

for three score years, and am happy in believing that the world have thought it a right one—if its being so, I am so well satisfied myself, that I shall not depart from it by turning either to the right or to the left, until I arrive at the end of my Pilgrimage. I am, Sir, Your very hble Servt

G.W.


Title: From George Washington to unknown recipient, 27 September 1792 [letter not found]
From: Washington, George
To: Unknown

Letter not found: to unknown recipient, 27 Sept. 1792. Sold by Leavitt, Strebeigh & Co., New York, item 501, 15–17 Mar. 1869. Listed as “A.L.S, ‘G. W——n,’ 1 p. 4to, Mount Vernon.”