201From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 14 August 1780 (Washington Papers)
I have been honoured with Your Excellency’s favor of the 22 of July and with its inclosure. With respect to appointing Officers for the Levies—Your Excellency I presume will have received before this, my Letters of the 18 & 22 Ulto, and by which You would find that I had arranged the matter, as far as the circumstances I was possessed of would admit, in consequence of your former application....
202From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 10 September 1793 (Washington Papers)
I return, from this place, the Papers which you put into my hands on the Road, to day. The unpromising state of the Negotiation at Madrid, and the opinion of the Commissioners that their Commission should be withdrawn, and matters at that Court placed in Statu quo, deser⟨ves⟩ very serious consideration. I pray you to give it; & if it rests altogether with the Executive (after the Agency th⟨e⟩...
203From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 31 December 1793 (Washington Papers)
It is my wish that the result of the determination on Mr G—ts request may go to him with your Signature, and of this date. It was for this reason I aimed at a decision on it Sunday or yesterday. Yours always ALS , owned (1984) by Edward N. Bomsey, Springfield, Virginia. GW was referring to Edmond Genet’s letter to Jefferson of 20 Dec., in which he asked that GW transmit to Congress...
204From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 11 February 1792 (Washington Papers)
If you & Mr Madison could make it convenient to take a family dinner with me to day—or, if engagements prevent this—wd come, at any hour in the afternoon most convenient to yourselves we would converse fully, and try to fix on some plan for carrying the Affairs of the Federal district into execution. Under present appearances it is difficult, but it is nevertheless necessary to resolve on some...
205From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 29 June 1792 (Washington Papers)
I am grieved to find that Mr Short was, on the 22d of April, without his Comn & Instructions —and that Mr Morris was not then in Paris. AL , DLC : Jefferson Papers. Jefferson’s docket on the cover of this letter and his Summary Journal of Public Letters ( DLC : Jefferson Papers) record that GW’s note was received on 29 June. For the appointment of William Short and William Carmichael to...
206From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 11 July 1793 (Washington Papers)
Before I had read the Papers put into my hands by you, requiring “instant attention” and a messenger could reach your Office, you had left town. What is to be done in the case of the Little Sarah, now at Chester? Is the Minister of the French Republic to set the Acts of this Government at defiance— with impunity ? and then threaten the Executive with an appeal to the People. What must the...
207From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 10 March 1793 (Washington Papers)
If, upon a due consideration of the letter from the Secretary of the N.W. Territory to Govr St Clair, which you sent to me yesterday, and is herewith returned, you shall be of opinion that my official interference is necessary on the subject of that letter, I must request that you will report to me wherein such interference may be necessary—as well as the authority under which the President...
208From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 17 March 1791 (Washington Papers)
The P. has just recd the enclosed. He prays Mr Jefferson to write by tomorrows Post to Majr L’Enfant agreeably to what was mentioned this morning. AL , DLC : Thomas Jefferson Papers. For the background to this letter, see GW to Jefferson, 16 Mar. 1791 . The enclosure has not been found. GW and Jefferson conferred about the Federal City on the morning of 17 Mar. 1791, discussing the appropriate...
209From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 13 November 1792 (Washington Papers)
I am glad the detention of the Ship gives you an opportunity of forwarding the enclosed. Yours ALS , DLC : Jefferson Papers. Jefferson docketed the letter: “Washington Presidt recd Nov. 13. 92.” Jefferson added a notation below the text in which he identified the enclosure: “it was my letter of Nov. 13. to mister Pinckney. London.” In that letter Jefferson wrote that the “ship New Pigou still...
210From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 15 June 1792 (Washington Papers)
When Artizans are imported, and criticism is at Work, the inducement is greater to obtain those who are really skilful: for this reason, if Mr Pinckney should not readily meet with those who are unequivocally such; or, if there is a chance of getting better in France than in England, I think it would be well to instruct him to correspond with Mr Morris on this Subject with a view to obtain the...
211From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 9 February 1791 (Washington Papers)
The messages to the two Houses, as altered are quite agreeable to. Whether, as it is equally known to both houses, that we have no person in a public character at the Ct of London it is best that the word “informal” should remain in the message to the Ho. of Representatives, or not, Mr J. may decide by the fair copy he shall send to ALS , DLC : Jefferson Papers. For the background to this...
212From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 3 November 1792 (Washington Papers)
Your letter to Messrs Carmichael and Short (now returned) is full & proper. I have added a word or two with A pencil, which may be inserted or not as you shall think best. The intention of them is to do away the charge of Sovereignty over more than are within our own territory. The erazures from the Speech—as you advise—are made, except exchange the word “high” for “just” If facts will justify...
213Enclosure: Memorandum for Thomas Jefferson with Jefferson’s Answers and Notes, 27 August–8 September 1791 (Washington Papers)
Will circumstances render a postponement of the Sale of Lots in the Federal City advisable? If not not adviseable? [2.] Where ought they to be made left to be considered ultimately on the spot, the general opinion being only that the leading interests be accomodated. [3.] Will it in that case, or even without it, be necessary or prudent to attempt to borrow money to carry on the difft works in...
214From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 5–6 March 1792 (Washington Papers)
The catalogue of complaints, enclosed, is long. May not our loss of the Indian trade—the participation of it I mean—and the expence & losses sustain’d by the Indian War be set against Mr H——list of grievances, in behalf of the B——Merchants—as well as, by taking our Slaves away depriving us of the means of paying debts. AL , DLC : Jefferson Papers. George Hammond, who was appointed Britain’s...
215From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 1 December 1793 (Washington Papers)
Is there no clue to Mr Morriss meaning respecting Monsr Merlino? The next paragraph of his letter is enigmatical to me, from the want of my recollecting perfectly the subjects alluded to. What are the orders given him which he will implicitly obey, and which were, according to his acct, received so very opportunely? Has not a letter of his of subsequent date to that laid before me yesterday,...
216From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 2 December 1793 (Washington Papers)
I am very well satisfied with the train things are in. You will recollect that the Proclamation, Rules and other things are referred to in the Speech —I shall depend upon there being got ready at your Office. Yours &ca ALS , DLC : Jefferson Papers. A note by Jefferson at the bottom of this document reads: “answer to note of this day respecting publication of proceedgs with Gr. Britn.” GW is...
217From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 22 November 1793 (Washington Papers)
I think Colo. Humphrey’s in one of his letters to you, refers to his to me, for some article of News. I see nothing therein that we have not had before; but send it nevertheless, for your perusal. Can any thing be said, or done, respecting the Marquis de la Fayette? I send the letter that you may give it another perusal. I send a letter also from a French Gentleman in New York offering his...
218From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 22 January 1793 (Washington Papers)
Nothing occurs to me as necessary to be added to the enclosed project. If the Subscription is not confined to the members of the Philosophical Society I would readily add my mite to the means for encouraging Mr Michaud’s undertaking—and do authorize you to place me among, & upon a footing with the respectable sums which may be Subscribed. I am always Yours. ALS , DLC : Jefferson Papers; ADfS ,...
219From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 31 December 1792 (Washington Papers)
Private Dear Sir [Philadelphia] Decr 31st 1792 I do not recollect perfectly what your sentiments were respecting the application of Mr De la Forest—and being to give an answer to the Secretary of the Treasury on this occasion I should be glad to receive them previously thereto. The difficulty of the case you well know arises from the unauthorised request, and the hazard of advancing monies...
220From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 26 February 1793 (Washington Papers)
The minister of France may, as soon as he pleases, make arrangements with the Secretary of the Treasury for the payment of Three million of Livres on account of the debt due from the U: States to France (including the one hundred thousand dollars already ordered, in part) agreeably to the requisition of M. Le Brun Minister for Foreign Affairs in that Country, & In such manner as will comport...
221From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 13 April 1791 (Washington Papers)
Your letter of the 2d came to my hands at this place. Part of it did as you supposed, & might well suppose, astonished me exceedingly. I think it not only right that Mr Carmichael should be furnished with a copy of the genuine letters to Mr G. Morris, but that Mr [Morris] should also know the result of his conferences with the Duke of Leeds at the Court of Madrid. The contents of my official...
222From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 14 March 1792 (Washington Papers)
At the time Mr Jeffersons letter to the President was put into his hands, he was so much engaged as hardly to find time to read it. The general purport of it, however, he well recollects was agreeable to him but whether the following ideas if they are not already substantially expressed, might not with propriety be conveyed, Mr Jefferson will judge of, and act accordingly. That no farther...
223From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 19 June 1790 (Washington Papers)
The enclosed Letters & documents from Mr Gouvr Morris are sent for the perusal of the Secretary of State. The private letters from the Marquis de la Fayette and Mr Payne he also gives Mr Jefferson a sight of; because there are some ideas in the latter which are new—and in the former, geneneral information respecting the affairs of France, which, by being compar’d with other accts may (though...
224From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 6 February 1781 (Washington Papers)
I am much obliged to your Excellency for your letter of the 10th of January, giving me an account of the enemy’s incursion into your state. Baron De Stueben has informed me of their successive operations to five miles below Hoods. It is mortifying to see so inconsiderable a party committing such extensive depredations with impunity: but considering the situation of your state, it is to be...
225From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 17 June 1792 (Washington Papers)
The Attorney General will, I presume, draw the Deed for the Lot for the Mint. The purchase of it, I approve of. If you can aid me in answering the queries of Mr Young, contained in his letter enclosed, I would thank you —I wish to write to him by Mr Pinckney. Is not fish Oil one of the things that will claim the particular attention of Mr Morris? Yrs &ca ALS , DLC : Jefferson Papers. For GW’s...
226From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 6–10 August 1779 (Washington Papers)
I have been honoured with your Letter of the 17 of July, upon the case of Lt Governor Hamilton. This subject, on more mature consideration, appears to be involved in greater difficulty than I apprehended. When I first received the proceedings of the Council upon it, transmitted in Your Excellency’s Letter of the 19th of June, I had no doubt of the propriety of the treatment decreed against Mr...
227From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 13 May 1793 (Washington Papers)
Sometime last fall I sent to Mr Young transcripts of the accounts respecting the Agriculture of this Country, which I had collected from Gentlemen of the best information on this subject, with whom I was acquainted in the middle States—New York & Virginia. The account which you had the goodness to draw up was among the number. I have lately received from Mr Young a letter in reply to mine...
228From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 16 January 1792 (Washington Papers)
Colo. Hamilton came so late that I could only broach the subject to him—He will breakfast with me at 8 Oclock—at which time If you can make it convenient I should be glad of your company—after which we will talk the matter over fully. Yrs ALS , DLC : Thomas Jefferson Papers. Jefferson endorsed this letter as having been “recd Jan. 16. 92,” which was a Monday. GW apparently wished to discuss...
229From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 30 November 1781 (Washington Papers)
Your very agreeable Favor of the 28th ulto which I have had the pleasure to receive, & which is filled with such sincere Marks of Cordiality & Affection, could not fail to be very acceptable to me. I thank you Sir! for your Congratulations on the late Success in Virginia—a Success which must be productive of happy Relief to that State in particular; and I trust if properly improved, will be...
230From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 3 February 1793 (Washington Papers)
The enclosed, containing some things which are not in Gouvr Morris official letter, the President sends it for Mr Jeffersons perusal. AL , DLC : Thomas Jefferson Papers. Jefferson placed an asterisk directly in front of this word and noted at the bottom of the manuscript page that the enclosure was “of Oct. 23. 92.” For Gouverneur Morris’s letter to Jefferson of 23 Oct. 1792, written in his...
231From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 13 March 1793 (Washington Papers)
The returned draught of a letter to Mr Gouvr Morris accords with my sentiments. Taking it for granted, that the words “We suppose this will rather overpay the instalments & interest due on the loans of 18.6 & 10 Millions”—means all that could be demanded by the French Government to the close of last year. This being the idea I have entertained of the payments, & engagements to pay. If it has...
232From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 7 October 1793 (Washington Papers)
It appearing to me that the public business will require the Executive Officers to be together some time before the meeting of Congress, I have written to the Secretaries of the Treasury & War to meet me at Philadelphia or vicinity—say Germantown—by the first of November, and shd be glad to see you there at the same time. The Attorney General is advised of this also. In a letter from General...
233From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 11 September 1780 (Washington Papers)
I am exceedingly obliged by your Excellency’s favor of the 3d. It has indeed relieved me from much anxiety, as, from Genl Gates’s letter of the 20th Augt from Hillsborough, there was the greatest reason to apprehend that the whole of the Maryland line and the troops which made a stand with them had been cut off—The stroke, as it is, is severe; but the total loss of the regular troops, would...
234From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 21 February 1781 (Washington Papers)
I do myself the honor to communicate, to your Excellency, a circumstance which I hope will be followed by the most salutary consequences to the State of Virginia in particular, and which may ultimately have the happiest effect upon the interests of America in general. The Chevalier des Touche, commanding His most Christian Majestys Squadron in the harbour of Newport, finding himself enabled,...
235From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 10 March 1791 [letter not found] (Washington Papers)
Letter not found: to Thomas Jefferson, 10 Mar. 1791. In his Summary Journal of Public Letters ( DLC : Jefferson Papers) of 10 Mar. 1791, Jefferson recorded that GW returned Jefferson’s draft instructions to Thomas Barclay regarding his mission to Morocco and Jefferson’s draft letter to the new emperor of Morocco with a covering note, which has not been found.
236From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 15 June 1791 (Washington Papers)
I acknowledged the receipt of your letter of the 2nd of April from Richmond—since which I have only received two letters from you of the 10th of April and 15th of May. Concluding that some of your dispatches may have been forwarded to Taylor’s ferry (by which route I did not return) I have to request, if that should have been the case, and the communications were of a particular or pressing...
237From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 30 May 1787 (Washington Papers)
It has so happened, that the letter which you did me the honor of writing to me the 14th of November last, did not come to my hands till the first of the present month; and at a time when I was about to set off for the Convention of the States, appointed to be holden in this City the 14th Instt. Consequently, it has not been in my power, at an earlier period, to reply to the important matters...
238From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 25 July 1793 (Washington Papers)
A letter from Colo. S. Smith (of Baltimore) to the Secretary of the Treasury, giving information of the conduct of the Privateers—Citizen Genet & Sans Culottes—is sent for your perusal: after which it may be returned; because contained therein, is a matter which respects the Treasury Department solely. As the letter of the Minister from the Republic of France, dated the 22d of June, lyes yet...
239From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 30 June 1793 (Washington Papers)
You will find by the enclosed letter from the Commissioners that Mr Hallet reports unfavorably of Doctor Thornton’s Plan “on the great points of practicability, time and expence:” and that I am referred “to Mr Blodget, Hoben, and Hallet, whose verbal information will be better than any we can give you"—on which to form ultimate Instructions. Mr Blodget I met at Baltimore in the moment I was...
240From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 4 April 1791 (Washington Papers)
You will readily agree with me that the best interests of the United States require such an intimation to be made to the Governor of Canada, either directly or indirectly, as may produce instructions to prevent the Indians receiving military aid or supplies from the british posts or garrisons—The notoriety of this assistance has already been such as renders enquiry into particulars...