1From George Washington to Alexander Spotswood, 7 February 1792 (Washington Papers)
Your letter of the 4th of December should have received an earlier acknowledgment, if the pressure of public business would have sooner permitted me to make the necessary enquiries relative to the object of it. And I was induced to delay the matter until I found myself at leisure, from an idea that no inconvenience could result to you or your Son, from a short postponement, as your letter...