1To George Washington from Robert Birchele, 2 June 1789 (Washington Papers)
Previous to This moment I could not obtain an oppert⟨y⟩ of addressing you, (an honor I ever had the most ardent wis⟨h⟩ for) and which I sho’d now conceive an unpardonable presumptn was it concomitent with the minutest particle of adulation, but conscious of the sincerity of my attachment to you, no⟨w⟩ in the most precarious times, I am embolden’d to assur⟨e mutilated⟩ I shall not expatiate...