Dear Sir WASHINGTON TO BOUQUET. Camp at Fort Cumberland 2d Sept. 1758 Your Letters of the 30th and 31st ult° I was favourd with in the Evening yesterday-not time enough tho to prepare my answer till to day and for safety I have detaind the Express for the Cover of night— I enclose you an exact return of all the ammunition and provisions wch we have at this place that you may be judge what supply is necessary to send here-If the pork is in Keggs of a 100 lb and the flour in baggs they can easily be carried on Horse back ; and I shoud for many reasons, prefer back loans infinitely to waggon's-Tools, powder and lead might also be carried on horse back which woud reduce our number of waggons and facilitate our march greatly-indeed this is obsolutely necessary to be done―or else, so small a body as we shall compose, are exposd to many insults, extended in such a manner as a number of waggons must necessarily occasion in our line of March. If it was possible I coud march with carrying horses only, and those good, I coud be at the place you mention in six days—but if I am incumbred with any number of waggons it will possibly be sic and if the teams shoud be bad there is no guessing at the time. The sick most certainly must go to the general hospital, for we can neither afford surgeons nor medicines from the Regiment to be left for their benefit-and many are not in a condition to move. I have wrote to M! Walker-or person acting in his place for the waggons you desire; they coud easily have been had on timely notice, but now I cannot promise-in case he succeed I have desird him to apply to Lord Fairfax for an escort of the militia but I can't promise he will get one. I am extreamely sorry to hear of the miscarriage of ye letters; it may be attended with bad consequences—We have rejoyc'd here on the happy occasion of Louisburg's reduction and I most heartily wish the same success may attend his majesty's arms in other parts. I shall be very desirous of a conference with the General before I march, as there may be many thing necessary to settle, I shall loose no time in attending him when I have notice of his arrival The Officer that commanded the escort from Winchester is detachd 15 miles hence (at our grass guard) so that I cannot just now get the certificates you desire.-I have no person here who can give me any satisfactory acct of the way and distance between the two roads as you desire. I have heard nothing yet from Capt? Woodwards party on Wednesday last serjeant Scot with five men went out once more to try their success at Fort Duquesne-I can answer for his good endeavours but it is not more tedious than dangerous bringing a prisoner such a distance. Colo Byrd is very ill but desires nevertheless that his compliments may be made to you. I am Dr Sir, Y most Obedt Hble Servt Go Washington. 29th Nov. 1758. Dr Sir It has been represented to the Gen! that is, will be very inconvenient for the Virginia Troops to March along Gen! Braddocks Road as their necessaries of every kind are at Loyal Shannon (men as well as Officers) and that the advantages proposd on pursuing the old road, viz. that if opening ye road it, [sic] are very trivial, as this can always be done faster than a body of men can march, (a little repair being wanted only) the General from these considerations seems now Inclind to Order us down by Loyal Shannon-I thought it expedient to inform you of this-being Sir, Ye most Obedt Hble Seryt To Collo Bouquet Dear Sir, Go Washington Monday 9 °Clock P. M. You will be surprisd (till I give you a reason for it) at receiving a Letter from a Person in the same Camp with you and who has free access at all times to your Tent.— But when I tell you that we were interrupted while conversing on a very important matter, and that I did not certainly know whether I might have another opportunity of renewing the Conversation till you had some how or other settled the point with the General, I flatter myself you will excuse the freedom I now beg leave to use with you. I don't doubt Sir but you have thoroughly considered the practicability of the scheme you this night mentioned to me and the good or evil consequences to be derivd there from, according to its success-it might therefore seem unreasonable to offer the following crude thoughts, did I not believe you are desirous of hearing opinions—at least--on this occasion. How far then do you believe our stock of provisions-to say nothing of other matters— will allow you to execute this plan ?--will it last till we coud reduce Fort Duquesne and march back to the inhabitants or receive a supply elsewhere?-if it woud do this, the measure may be right; but if it will not, what is the consequence. Is it not neglecting the strengthening of this place--consuming the provisions that shoud support a Garrison here, and abandoning our Artillery either to the Enemy or a general destruction-It appears to me in that light Now suppose the Enemy gives us a meeting in the field and we put them to the rout, what do we gain by it? perhaps triple their loss of Men in the first place, tho' our numbers may be greatly superior (and if I may be allowed to judge from what I have seen of late, we should not highten much that good opinion they seem to have of our skill in wood fighting)—therefore to risk an engagement when so much depends upon it, without having the accomplishment of the main point in view, appears in my Eye, to be a little imprudent-coud we suppose the Enemy woud immediately evacuate their Fort in case of a defeat in the Wood—or as I before observd coud we be certain of provisions in ye other event, I think not a moments time is left for hesitation-but one or tother of these we ought to be assurd of—you I am sensible stand very little indeed of any of these suggestions -which are thrown together in haste, as I waited till this moment almost, expecting to see you-You will at least pardon this liberty and believe me to be, Your most obedt Hble Seryt G: Washington To. Col Bouquet. In June 1792, the Earl of Buchan* wrote to President Washington, suggesting that America might become a happy and prosperous country, by adopting a policy of non-interference in the political affairs of Europe. He dwelt on the folly of preferring the indulgence of national pride, vanity, and resentment—a warlike policy leading to bankruptcy and misery— to the slow but certain benefits to be permanently obtained by peace and internal prosperity. He also recommended two great objects to the attention of the President: peace and union with the Indians, and national education. In his reply, which is given below, Washington not only shows that non-interference is the American policy, but introduces his favorite scheme of internal improvements which would bind the sections together and make the Republic great as well as prosperous. My Lord, PHILADELPHIA, APRIL 22nd 1793. You might, from appearances, suspect me of inattention to the honor, of your correspondence :—and if you should, I can assure you it would give me pain.--Or you might conceive that, I had rather make excuses that acknowledge, in time, the receipt of your favors, as this is the second instance of considerable lapse between the dates of them and my acknowledgements :-this also would hurt me—for the truth is, that your favor of the 22nd of last Octob'. under cover of one from Doct! Anderson of the 3rd of November, accompanying the 7th 8. 9. 10 and 11th volumes of the Bee, did not come to my hands until the 18th of the present month. Having by me the rough draught of the letter I had the honor of addressing to your Lordship in May, I do agreeably to your request, transmit a copy thereof.-It is difficult for me, however, to account for the miscarriage or delay of the original, as it was committed to the care of Mr Robertson at his own request, to be forwarded along with the Portrait of me which (for the reasons therein assigned) a preference had been given of him to take for your Lordship-both of which I expected you had received long since.— The works of Doct! Anderson do him much credit-and when they are more extensively known will, I am persuaded, meet a very ready sale in this Country.—I have taken occasion to mention his wish to a member of the Philosophical Society of this City, who has promised to bring his name forward at the next meeting :-entertaining no doubt of his being readily admitted; as his pretensions are known to stand upon solid ground. The favorable wishes which your Lordship has expressed for the prosperity of this young and rising Country, cannot but be gratefully received by all its citizens, and every lover of it. One mean to the contribution of which, and its happiness, is very judiciously portrayed in the following words of your letter, "to be little heard of in the great world of Politics " These words I can assure your Lordship are expressive of my sentiments on this head; and I believe it is the sincere wish of United America to have nothing to do with the Political intrigues, or the squabbles of European Nations; but on the contrary, to exchange commodities and live in peace and amity with all the inhabitants of the Earth; and this I am persuaded they will do, if rightfully it can be done.-To administer justice to, and receive it from every Power with whom they are connected will, I hope, be always found the most prominent feature in the administration of this Country; and I flatter my * Brother to Lord Erskine. self that nothing short of imperious Necessity can occasion a breach with any of them.Under such a System if we are allowed to pursue it, the Agricultural and Mechanical Arts-the wealth and population of these States will encrease with that degree of rapidity as to baffle all calculation- and must surpass any idea your Lordship can, hitherto, have entertained on the occasion.-To evince that our views (whether realised or not) are expanded, I take the liberty of sending you the plan of a New City, situated about the centre of the Union of these States which is designed for the permanent Seat of the Government. And we are at this moment deeply engaged, and far advanced in extending the inland Navigation of the River (Potomac) on which it stands and the branches thereof through a tract of as rich Country-for hundreds of miles—as any in the world.-Nor is this a Solitary instance of attempts of the kind, although it is the only one which is near completion, & in partial use.-Several other very important ones are commenced and little doubt is entertained that in ten years if left undisturbed we shall open a communication by Water with all the Lakes Northward and Westward of us with which we have territorial connections;— and an inland Navigation in a few years more from Rhode Island to Georgia inclusively-partly by cuts between the great Bays & Sounds-& partly between the Islands & Sand Banks & the Main from Albemarle Sound to the River St. Mary's. To these, may be added, the erection of bridges over considerable Rivers, & the commencement of Turn-Pike-Roads as indications of the improvements in hand.— The family of Fairfax's in Virginia, of whom you speak, are also related to me by several inter marriages before it came into this Country (as I am informed) and since; and what remain of the old stock are near neighbours to my Estate of Mount Vernon.— The late Lord (Thomas) with whom I was perfectly acquainted-lived at the distance of sixty miles from me after he had removed from Belvoir (the Seat of his kinsman) which adjoins my estate just mentioned; and is going to be inhabited by a young member of the family as soon as the house which some years ago was burnt can be rebuilt. Your Lordship's Most Obed. Hble Servant. GO. WASHINGTON. EARL OF BUCHAN. Washington's letters to Sir John Sinclair, during the four years following, on the subject of agriculture and manufactures in this country, are of surpassing interest. During this same period another distinguished American was engaged in answering questions relating to American methods of agriculture, and the progress made in establishing government under the federal constitution. In November, 1793, Dr. Manasseh Cutler wrote to Dr. Jonathan Stokes at length on these interesting subjects, in whose letter there is a happy blending of information about woodlands and fallow fields with discussions of the influence of religious toleration and freedom of the press on a people left to govern themselves. The effect of all this correspondence was to promote the reëstablishment of friendly relations between the mother country and the yonug republic. William Henry Smitte WASHINGTON AS AN ANGLER WITH EXTRACTS FROM HIS DIARIES 1787-89 "All that are lovers of virtue be quiet and go a-Angling."-IZAAK WALTON. [This paper, privately printed for the Centennial of Washington's fishing excursion during the Federal Convention in Philadelphia, is now issued for the second time with some additions, including President Cleveland's letter accepting the dedication. To Grover Cleveland, President of the United States: G. H. M.] It is known to me that there have been skilful fishermen, more than one, among the Chief Magistrates of the Nation. Your immediate predecessor has left an unsurpassed record among them, and it is with no ordinary pleasure that those of us who profess the faith and follow the precepts of "The Complete Angler" have been assured that you are inclined to indulge in similar recreation betimes. No good fisherman was ever a bad man, and history will bear out the assertion that the best Presidents have been the best fishermen. No one of the many biographers of the first President of the United States has done justice to the character of Washington in this important feature, and the present publication of extracts from his diaries is intended to be a timely tribute to his fame as a man among men, a fisherman among fishermen, in which it will be no disparagement to you to share. In the first century of this Nation's life he was the first and you have been called to be the last President. I trust that the beginning of the new era will find as good a fisherman as you are in office, and that the line may continue to stretch out, like that of the blood-boltered Banquo, till the crack of doom. LENOX LIBRARY, July, 1887. GEORGE H. MOORE. EXECUTIVE MANSION, Dr. George H. Moore: MY DEAR SIR: Please accept my thanks for the little book you sent me entitled "Washington as an Angler." I am much pleased to learn that the only element of greatness heretofore unnoticed in the life of Washington is thus supplied. I am a little curious to know whether the absence of details as to the result of his fishing is owing to bad luck, a lack of toleration of fish stories at that time among anglers, or to the fact that, even as to the number of fish he caught, the Father of his Country could not tell a lie. Yours very truly, GROVER CLEVELAND. |