From George Washington to Gouverneur Morris, 1 September 1793
To Gouverneur Morris
Philadelphia Septr 1st 1793
Dear sir,
This letter will be presented to you by Mr Lear, whom I beg leave (if he should go to France) to recommend to your civilities.1 He is a person who possesses my entire friendship & confidence; and will not be found unworthy of your acquaintance, as he will have it in his power to give you an acct, which you may rely on, of the true Situation of things in this Country.
Mercantile pursuits have induced him to leave my family; by these he is carried to Europe for a short stay, only.2 I shall not repeat to you the sincere esteem & regard with which I am Dear Sir Your sincere friend and affecte Servt
Go: Washington
ALS, NNGL; ALS (letterpress copy), DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW.
1. Tobias Lear sailed for Europe on 10 Nov. 1793 and returned to the United States in August 1794. While in Europe, he visited Scotland, England, and Holland (see Lear to GW, 9 Nov. 1793, 25 Dec. 1793, 22 Aug. 1794).
2. Although Lear continued to function as GW’s secretary until the end of August 1793, he had joined, around June 1793, with Tristram Dalton, former U.S. senator from Massachusetts, and James Greenleaf, appointed as U.S. consul at Amsterdam, to form T. Lear & Co., a mercantile establishment to be located at the new Federal City. The European trip was to make commercial contacts and arrange suppliers for the new company.