In the fall of 1789 GW had requested Gouverneur Morris to open unofficial discussions with the British ministry on outstanding differences between the United States and Great Britain (see entry for 7 Oct. 1789). Among the letters that GW showed to Adams today was probably Morris to GW, 7 April 1790, describing in detail his polite but unsatisfactory interview with the duke of Leeds, British minister for foreign affairs. “On Monday the twenty ninth I waited upon him at Whitehall and after the usual Compliments, presented your Letter telling him that it would explain the Nature of my Business. Having read it, he said with much Warmth and Gladness in his Appearance ‘I am very happy Mr. Morris to see this Letter and under the Presidents own Hand. I assure you it is very much my Wish to cultivate a friendly and commercial Intercourse between the two Countries and more, and I can answer for the Rest of his Majesty’s Servants that they are of the same Opinion.’ . . . I assured him of our sincere Disposition to be upon good Terms and then proceeded to mention those Points in the Treaty of Peace which remained to be performed: and first I observed that by the Constitution of the United States which he had certainly read all Obstacles to the Recovery of British debts are removed. . . . He said he was very happy to receive this Information, that he had been of Opinion and had written so to Mr Adams that the Articles ought to be performed in the Order in Which they stood in the Treaty. . . . I took Occasion to observe that the Southern States who had been much blamed in this Country for obstructing the Recovery of british Debts, were not liable to all the Severity of Censure which had been thrown upon them—that their Negroes having been taken or seduced away, and the Payment for those Negroes having been stipulated by Treaty they had formed a Reliance on such Payment for Discharge of Debts contrated with british Merchants both previously and subsequently to the War.” Morris then brought up the main questions of British retention of the frontier posts and payment for slaves that had been taken away by the British army after the war. Leeds “became a little embarrassed” and could not say how the question of the posts stood. “That as to the Affair of the Negroes he had long wished to have it brought up and to have Something done, but Something or other had always interfered. He then changed the Conversation but I brought it back, and he changed it again. Hence it was apparent that he could go no farther than general Professions and Assurances.” Leeds was equally noncommittal on the subject of an exchange of ministers between the two countries. “Wherefore as it was not worth while to discuss the Winds and the Weather I observed that as he might probably chuse to consider the matter a little and to read again the Treaty and compare it with the American Constitution. He said that he should and wished me to leave your Letter which he would have copies and return to me. . . . Thus Sir this Matter was began but nine Days have since lapsed and I have heard Nothing farther from the Duke of Leeds” (DLC:GW). Morris’s correspondence with the duke of Leeds was enclosed.

A letter of 1 May from Morris to GW, also enclosing correspondence with Leeds, reported little progress in the negotiations. “It seems pretty clear that they wish to evade a commercial Treaty but not peremptorily to reject it, and therefore I have construed into Rejection his Graces abstruse Language. . . . I have some Reason to believe that the present Administration intend to keep the Posts, and withhold Payment for the Negroes” (DLC:GW).

The RUPTURE BETWN. ENGLAND & SPAIN involved a conflict between the two powers at Nootka Sound on the west coast of North America. When the British attempted in 1789 to establish a post in territory claimed but not effectively occupied by Spain, Spanish forces in the area resisted and captured several British ships. By mid-June reports reached the United States from London that the British were preparing for war and that a conflict appeared imminent (see John Rutledge, Jr., to Jefferson, 6 May 1790, JEFFERSON [1] description begins Julian P. Boyd et al., eds. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. 41 vols. to date. Princeton, N.J., 1950–. description ends , 16:413–15).

For the background of Alexander McGillivray’s trip to New York, see entry for 10 Mar. 1790. McGillivray, Marinus Willett, and their party apparently started north in mid-May, “McGillivray and several others on horseback, twenty-six chiefs and warriors in three wagons, and Willett riding in a sulky. All along the way the delegation was greeted with great interest and McGillivray was feted by the more prominent citizens. Particularly was this the case at Guildford Courthouse, North Carolina, at Richmond and Fredericksburg in Virginia, and at Philadelphia” (CAUGHEY description begins John Walton Caughey. McGillivray of the Creeks. Norman, Okla., 1938. description ends , 43). Carlos Howard was an Irish officer who joined the Hibernia Regiment of the Spanish army in 1761. He had attained the rank of captain when in 1784 he was appointed provisional secretary of the captaincy-general of St. Augustine, serving in that post for the next 11 years (LOCKEY description begins Joseph Byrne Lockey. East Florida, 1783–1785: A File of Documents Assembled, and Many of Them Translated. Edited by John Walton Caughey. Berkeley, Calif., 1949. description ends , 183–84, n.2). American suspicions about Howard’s role were undoubtedly justified. He was sent to New York from St. Augustine ostensibly on sick leave but actually to keep an eye on the negotiations. John Leslie of the trading firm of Panton, Leslie & Co. wrote McGillivray from St. Augustine, 13 May 1790, concerning “our mutual friend Captain Carlos Howard, who by chance is about to make an excursion, which he has contemplated for some time past to the northern States in order to get for his health a change of climate and the benefits of the sea air.” Leslie noted that the two men were sure to meet in New York and since Howard had “seen much of the world” his advice would be useful. “If you meet in New York, it will be in his power to introduce you to the Spanish minister in case you do not carry letters from the Governors. . . . Anyhow you will find him useful in other ways, for I am persuaded that he will be most happy to render you every possible service in any affair in which you conceive that he can contribute to further your views or facilitate your wishes, especially in connection with any communications that you may have to make to the Spanish governors or even to the court at Madrid” (CAUGHEY description begins John Walton Caughey. McGillivray of the Creeks. Norman, Okla., 1938. description ends , 264). McGillivray and his party arrived in New York City on 20 July, and Howard made every effort to insinuate himself into the negotiations. “We are by no means satisfied with the conduct of the Spanish Officer, who arrived lately from the foreign possessions of that Crown,” Hamilton stated. “We cannot prove it positively, but have every reason to think, that he has been using endeavours to check or even to frustrate our negotiations with the Creek Indians, and with this view that he has made them large presents in this city; this we consider as perfectly unwarrantable” (HAMILTON [2] description begins Harold C. Syrett et al., eds. The Papers of Alexander Hamilton. 27 vols. New York, 1961–87. description ends , 6:547). Howard himself, in his lively account of his activities in New York, stated that the United States government “appointed people to watch and follow my footsteps. . . . McGuillivray was convinced that my presence . . . contributed to the fact that the Americans did not insist on an unqualified recognition on the part of the Indians of the sovereignty of the United States as well as that a secret article concerning the settling of the question of Indian trade was deferred for two years” (Howard to Juan Nepomuceno de Quesada, governor of East Florida, 24 Sept. 1790, CAUGHEY description begins John Walton Caughey. McGillivray of the Creeks. Norman, Okla., 1938. description ends , 281–84). The negotiations with the Creek continued in July and early August, and the Treaty of New York was signed on 7 Aug. 1790 (KAPPLER description begins Charles J. Kappler, ed. Indian Affairs. Laws and Treaties. 5 vols. Washington, D.C., 1903–41. description ends , 25–29).

Joseph Stanton, Jr. (1739–1807), newly elected senator from Rhode Island, had just arrived in New York. He served in the Rhode Island legislature 1768–74 and during the Revolution as a colonel of a Rhode Island regiment and brigadier general in the Rhode Island militia. In 1790 he was a member of the Rhode Island Ratifying Convention.

Theodore Foster (1752–1828), a native of Brookfield, Mass., graduated from Rhode Island College (Brown University) in 1770 and began the practice of law in Providence about 1771. He held several local positions, including judge of the court of admiralty in 1785. In June 1790 GW appointed him naval officer for Providence. At this time he had just been elected to represent Rhode Island in the United States Senate.

John Doughty (1757–1826) served in the Revolution as aide-de-camp to Maj. Gen. Philip Schuyler and as a captain in the artillery. He was brevetted major 30 Sept. 1783. In 1789 he was appointed with the same rank to the artillery. He helped in the design and construction of Forts Harmar and Washington. He was sent by Knox in early 1790 to carry guarantees of American friendship to the Chickasaw (GW to Chiefs and Warriors of the Chickasaw, 30 Dec. 1790, DLC:GW). His report to Knox on his mission, 7 April 1790, is in MiU-C: Harmar Papers. Henry Knox’s account of Doughty’s misfortunes agrees substantially with that in GW’s diary (see Knox’s “Causes of the existing Hostilities between the United States, and certain Tribes of Indians North-West of the Ohio,” 26 Jan. 1792, in CARTER [4] description begins Clarence Edwin Carter et al., eds. The Territorial Papers of the United States. 27 vols. Washington, D.C., 1934–69. description ends , 2:364). The secretary of war had earlier mentioned the attack in his “Summary statement of the situation of the frontiers,” 27 May 1790 (DLC:GW). The incident occurred on 22 Mar., and on 25 Mar. Doughty wrote to Maj. John P. Wyllys, describing the attack: “We fought them four hours, and then escaped in this distressed situation. I found it impossible to ascend the Ohio, or, after I reached the Mississippi, to ascend it. My wounded men were in so distressed a situation as to require immediate assistance. The only resource left me was to come to this place, where I have met with every civility” (ST. CLAIR PAPERS description begins William Henry Smith, ed. The St. Clair Papers. The Life and Public Services of Arthur St. Clair: Soldier of the Revolutionary War; President of the Continental Congress; and Governor of the North-Western Territory with his Correspondence and other Papers. 2 vols. Cincinnati, 1882. description ends , 2:134). The commandant of Ansa á la grasa or Anse à la graisse (New Madrid), to which Doughty and the surviving members of his party had fled, was Pedro Foucher (NASATIR description begins Abraham P. Nasatir. Spanish War Vessels on the Mississippi, 1792-1796. New Haven, and London, 1968. description ends , 285, n.1; THORNBROUGH description begins Gayle Thornbrough, ed. Outpost on the Wabash, 1787–1791: Letters of Brigadier General Josiah Harmar and Major John Francis Hamtramck and other letters and documents from the Harmar Papers in the William L. Clements Library. Indianapolis, 1957. In Indiana Historical Society Publications, vol.19. description ends , 231, n.2). Piomingo was a pro-American Chickasaw chief. occhappo: Occochappo (see entry for 26 Jan. 1790). acts: For the act providing for the census in Rhode Island, see 1 STAT. description begins Richard Peters, ed. The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845 . . .. 8 vols. Boston, 1845-67. description ends 129 (5 July 1790). The second act cited by GW authorized him to purchase for the federal government “the whole or such part of that tract of land situate in the state of New York, commonly called West Point, as shall be by him judged requisite for the purpose of such fortifications and garrisons as may be necessary for the defence of the same” (1 STAT. description begins Richard Peters, ed. The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845 . . .. 8 vols. Boston, 1845-67. description ends 129 [5 July 1790]).

chiefs: See entry for 1 July 1790. Knox’s circular letter to the governors was dated 3 July 1790. The letter sent to John Eager Howard of Maryland is in MdAA.

GW’s appointments for Rhode Island included Henry Marchant (1741–1796), federal judge; William Channing (1751–1793), district attorney; William Peck (d. 1832), United States marshal; and Ebenezer Thompson to replace Theodore Foster (1752–1828) as naval officer of Providence. For the appointments to the Rhode Island customs service, see DE PAUW description begins Linda Grant De Pauw et al., eds. Documentary History of the First Federal Congress of the United States of America, March 4, 1789-March 3, 1791. 20 vols. to date. Baltimore, 1972–. description ends , 2:83.

This oration was part of New York’s Independence Day celebration. As part of the festivities in the early afternoon, local military units “escorted the Society of the Cincinnati to St. Pauls—where an elegant oration was delivered by Brockholst Livingston, Esq., to a very numerous audience [including] The President and Vice-President of the United States Members of both Houses of Congress—a brilliant assembly of Ladies and of the most respectable citizens” (Gaz. of the U.S. [Philadelphia], 7 July 1790). GW may have dined this evening with the Society of the Cincinnati at Bardin’s. Henry Brockholst Livingston (1757–1823) was the son of William Livingston, governor of New Jersey. A graduate of Princeton in 1774, he had accompanied his brother-in-law John Jay on the latter’s mission to Spain in 1779 and served at various times during the Revolution in the Continental Army. In 1783 he was admitted to the New York bar and became prominent in New York legal circles. Under the new government he became an active Antifederalist.

After the Revolution, Benedict Arnold lived in England with his family until 1785. In that year, finding his inflated claims for compensation for his services to the British government during the Revolution were not successful, he sailed for the Loyalist settlement of St. John, New Brunswick, where he established a mercantile and shipping business (WALLACE [2] description begins Willard M. Wallace. Traitorous Hero: The Life and Fortunes of Benedict Arnold. New York, 1954. description ends , 288–92).

historical pieces: John Trumbull was continuing the series of paintings depicting the events of the American Revolution that he had begun soon after the war. After considerable preparatory work in Europe, he returned to New York in 1789, “for the purpose of pursuing my work of the Revolution; all the world was assembled there, and I obtained many portraits for the Declaration of Independence, Surrender of Cornwallis, and also that of General Washington in the battles of Trenton and Princeton” (TRUMBULL [2] description begins Theodore Sizer, ed. The Autobiography of Colonel John Trumbull: Patriot-Artist, 1756–1843. 1953. Reprint. New York, 1970. description ends , 88, 92, 164). See also entry for 14 Jan. 1790.

portrait: See entry for 14 Jan. 1790.

George Beckwith (1753–1823), a member of a prominent Yorkshire, Eng., family, became an ensign in 1771 in the British army, achieving the rank of lieutenant in 1775, captain in 1777, and major in 1781. During the years of the American Revolution he saw extensive service in America and ended the war as aide-de-camp to Sir Guy Carleton (1724–1808). Carleton, who was raised to the peerage as the first Baron Dorchester in 1786, was made governor-in-chief of the Province of Quebec, also in 1786. When he went to Canada, Beckwith accompanied him. Between 1787 and 1790 Beckwith made four visits to the United States where he acted as an unofficial agent for Dorchester and the British ministry in acquiring information about the United States and where he carried on extensive conversations with such prominent Americans as Philip Schuyler, Alexander Hamilton, William Samuel Johnson, and John Trumbull (see JEFFERSON [1] description begins Julian P. Boyd et al., eds. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. 41 vols. to date. Princeton, N.J., 1950–. description ends , 17:35–64).

The memorandum quoted by GW is in Hamilton’s handwriting and is in DLC:GW. Canadian officials had already learned of the impending crisis between Britain and Spain over the seizure of British ships in Nootka Sound through a letter from William Wyndham, Lord Grenville, secretary of state for home affairs, to Lord Dorchester, 6 May 1790, marked “Secret.” Grenville, who was concerned about the United States’ position, particularly in regard to the frontier posts still held by the British, wrote Dorchester that in case war should break out, “I conceive that it would by no means be impossible to turn the tide of opinion and wishes of America in our favor in case of a Contest with Spain on the business now in question. . . . The object which we might hold out to them, particularly to the Kentucke and other Settlers at the back of the old colonies, of opening the Navigation of the Mississippi to them, is one at least as important as the possession of the Forts, and perhaps it would not be difficult to shew, that the former is much more easily attainable with the assistance of Great Britain against Spain, than the latter is by their joining Spain in offensive operations against this Country” (P.R.O., C.O. 42/67, f. 93–97). Two additional letters from Grenville of the same date reiterated his concern in regard to the United States (BRYMNER description begins Douglas Brymner. Report on Canadian Archives . . . 1890. (Being an Appendix to Report of the Minister of Agriculture.). Ottawa, 1891. description ends , 1890, 131–33). Grenville also forwarded to Dorchester Gouverneur Morris’s correspondence with the duke of Leeds (see entry for 1 July 1790) with the comment that “this communication coming from Genl. Washington however vague and inexplicit it is, seems however to indicate some disposition on the part of the United States to cultivate a closer connection with this country than has hitherto subsisted since their separation from Great Britain.”

Beckwith was the logical choice as an agent to present Britain’s views unofficially and to sound out the administration on Grenville’s, and although he had only returned to Canada from the United States in May 1790, he again set out for New York. Beckwith carried with him two sets of instructions, both dated 27 June 1790. The first instructions, which Beckwith showed to Hamilton, expressed Dorchester’s hope that the difficulties between Spain and Britain would not “make any alteration in the good disposition of the United States to establish a firm friendship and Alliance with Great Britain to the Mutual advantage of both Countries; I am persuaded it can make none on the part of Great Britain, whose liberal treatment of the United States in point of Commerce sufficiently evinces her friendly disposition, notwithstanding the non execution of the Treaty on their part, which, and various misrepresentations I have always attributed to an unsettled state of their government, and of the minds of the multitude, influenced perhaps by a power not very cordial even to the United States” (P.R.O., C.O. 42/68, f. 225).

The second instructions, marked “Secret,” which the secretary of the treasury did not see, instructed Beckwith to learn as much as possible about the attitudes of both the government and people in case of war but to be cautious about carrying out Grenville’s suggestion regarding the navigation of the Mississippi as bait to westerners for a British connection: “You will be cautious in advancing anything specific on that head, but rather lead them to explain the different lines of policy, each party may have in view. . . . In general you may assert it as your own opinion, that in case of a War with Spain you see no reason why we should not assist in forwarding whatever their interests may require” (P.R.O., C.O. 42/68, f. 258–60).

The Indian depredations that Dorchester deplored may have been the attack on Maj. John Doughty’s party (see entry for 2 July 1790) or the attacks along the Scioto River (see entry for 9 July 1790). Indian raids on all the frontiers had been widespread during the spring of 1790. captain hart: Jonathan Heart (see entry for 9 July 1790). The Treaty of Fort Harmar had been negotiated 9 Jan. 1789 by Gov. Arthur St. Clair with the Wyandots (KAPPLER description begins Charles J. Kappler, ed. Indian Affairs. Laws and Treaties. 5 vols. Washington, D.C., 1903–41. description ends , 2:18–23).

William Maclay noted that this evening’s entertainment “was a great dinner, in the usual style, without any remarkable occurrences. Mrs. Washington was the only woman present” (MACLAY description begins Charles A. Beard, ed. The Journal of William Maclay: United States Senator from Pennsylvania, 1789–1791. 1927. Reprint. New York, 1965. description ends , 310).

John Sevier (1745–1815) was elected United States senator from North Carolina in 1789. Sevier in Dec. 1773 moved from his native Virginia to the North Carolina frontier and settled on the Nolichucky River in an area which in 1796 became a part of the state of Tennessee. During the Revolution he led a force of frontiersmen at Kings Mountain and in 1781 and 1782 led several expeditions against Indians who were raiding the frontier. In the 1780s he was governor of the short-lived State of Franklin and deeply involved in the Muscle Shoals speculation. From 1796 to 1801 and 1803 to 1809 he served as governor of Tennessee.

Josiah Harmar (1753–1813), a native of Philadelphia, served as major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel of various Pennsylvania regiments during the Revolution and in Aug. 1784 became commander of the new United States Army. From that time until his resignation in 1792, he served mainly on the Ohio frontier, repelling Indian attacks against the area’s few settlements. In Sept. 1790 he was to engage in an unsuccessful campaign against the Shawnee in the area of the Miami villages on the Maumee River. The letter that GW mentions was probably Harmar’s letter of 9 June 1790 to Henry Knox, although GW must have obtained additional details from other papers submitted by Knox (ASP, Indian Affairs, description begins Walter Lowrie et al., eds. American State Papers. Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. 38 vols. Washington, D.C., Gales and Seaton, 1832–61. description ends 1:91–92). Lt. Col. James Wilkinson wrote Harmar 7 April 1790 that for “more than one month past a party of savages has occupied the Northwestern bank of the Ohio, a few miles above the mouth of the Scioto, from whence they make attacks upon every boat which passes, to the destruction of much property, the loss of many lives, and the great annoyance of all intercourse from the northward . . . their last attack was made against five boats, one of which they captured” (ASP, Indian Affairs, description begins Walter Lowrie et al., eds. American State Papers. Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. 38 vols. Washington, D.C., Gales and Seaton, 1832–61. description ends 1:91). On 30 May, Ens. Asa Hartshorne of the 1st United States Regiment reported that he and a small party had been attacked near Limestone; “in the afternoon, myself with five men went up to the place where we were attacked; we found one man, one woman, and three children, killed and scalped. . . . There are eight missing; the whole killed and missing is thirteen souls; they took none of the property but one horse” (ASP, Indian Affairs, description begins Walter Lowrie et al., eds. American State Papers. Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. 38 vols. Washington, D.C., Gales and Seaton, 1832–61. description ends 1:91). Both of these documents were enclosed in Harmar’s letter to Knox. Limestone was a small post town in Kentucky on the south side of the Ohio River “and on the west side of the mouth of a small creek of its name” (MORSE [2] description begins Jedidiah Morse. The American Gazetteer . . .. Boston, 1797. description ends ).

Charles Scott (c.1739–1813) was born in Goochland (later Powhatan) County, Va., and served under GW in Braddock’s campaign during the French and Indian War. During the Revolution he was a lieutenant colonel in the 2d Virginia Regiment, colonel of the 5th Virginia Regiment, and in 1777 was commissioned brigadier general in the Continental Army. He was brevetted major general in 1783. In 1785 he moved to Kentucky and represented Woodford County in the Virginia Assembly 1789–90. In 1791 he led Kentucky troops in the St. Clair expedition. Concerning his role in the Scioto expedition, Harmar noted in his letter to Knox that “General Scott detached a small party of horsemen, who fell in with the savages, killed them, and brought four scalps into Limestone” (ASP, Indian Affairs, description begins Walter Lowrie et al., eds. American State Papers. Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. 38 vols. Washington, D.C., Gales and Seaton, 1832–61. description ends 1:91).

Jonathan Heart (d. 1791) of Connecticut entered the Revolution in 1775 as a volunteer, became an ensign in 1776, a captain lieutenant in 1779, and a captain in 1780. He served as a brigade major until Nov. 1783 and in 1785 was appointed a captain in the United States Infantry Regiment. In Sept. 1789 he became a captain in the 1st United States Infantry Regiment and served with Harmar’s command on the Ohio frontier. He was killed during Arthur St. Clair’s battle with the western Indians 4 Nov. 1791.

John Hamtramck (c.1756–1803), a native of Quebec, served during the Revolution as a major in the New York line. In 1785 he became captain of a New York company serving under Harmar on the Ohio frontier. Joining the United States forces at Vincennes in 1787 he remained as one of the fort’s officers for the next six years. His “report of the distances” from Vincennes to Detroit was enclosed in a letter to Harmar of 17 Mar. 1790, and is printed in THORNBROUGH description begins Gayle Thornbrough, ed. Outpost on the Wabash, 1787–1791: Letters of Brigadier General Josiah Harmar and Major John Francis Hamtramck and other letters and documents from the Harmar Papers in the William L. Clements Library. Indianapolis, 1957. In Indiana Historical Society Publications, vol.19. description ends , 225–27.

miss smith: probably Louisa Smith. See entry for 8 Oct. 1789. gentlemen of my family: GW’s secretaries, Tobias Lear, William Jackson, Bartholomew Dandridge, Jr., David Humphreys, and Robert Lewis. Dandridge (d. 1802) was the son of Mrs. Washington’s brother Bartholomew Dandridge.

Mrs. Lear, Tobias Lear’s wife, was Mary (Polly) Long Lear of Portsmouth, N.H. The Lears were married in April 1790 in Portsmouth, and upon their return to New York they were invited to make their home with the Washingtons. Mrs. Washington in particular apparently became very fond of young Mrs. Lear, who made herself useful to the presidential household in a number of ways. The living arrangements continued after the household moved to Philadelphia. Polly Lear died, at the age of 23, in Philadelphia, 28 July 1793 (DECATUR description begins Stephen Decatur, Jr. Private Affairs of George Washington: From the Records and Accounts of Tobias Lear, Esquire, his Secretary. Boston, 1933. description ends , 128–29). The two children were Mrs. Washington’s grandchildren George Washington Parke Custis and Eleanor Parke Custis.

Fort Washington, in the vicinity of present W. 183d Street in Manhattan, had fallen to the British in Nov. 1776. Later Fort Knyphausen had been constructed by the British on the site of the American works. The Morris Mansion (Jumel Mansion), constructed by Lt. Col. Roger Morris in 1765, was confiscated at the end of the Revolution as Loyalist property and was advertised in Mar. 1790 for sale at public auction: “A Farm at the 11 mile stone on New York Island late the property of Col. Roger Morris—the mansion house in point of elegance and spaciousness is equal to any in this state, and from its elevated position not only enjoys the most salubrious air, but affords a prospect extensively diversified and beautiful. The farm contains about 140 acres, the greatest part of which is mowing ground, and extends across the Island from the East to the North river. On the premises are a large coach house and barn, with a garden containing a variety of the best fruits” (Daily Adv. [New York], 12 Mar. 1790, cited in STOKES description begins I. N. Phelps Stokes. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498–1909: Compiled from Original Sources and Illustrated by Photo-Intaglio Reproductions of Important Maps Plans Views and Documents in Public and Private Collections. 6 vols. New York, 1915–28. description ends , 5:1263). The house was to be sold on 3 May 1790.

Although there are no written communications from GW on the subject of Beckwith’s communications (see entry for 8 July 1790) to Adams or Knox, on 9 July Hamilton wrote Jay that “certain Circumstances of a delicate nature have occurred, concerning which The President would wish to consult you.” In view of the serious illness of Jay’s father-in-law, Gov. William Livingston of New Jersey, “I cannot say the President directly asks it, lest you should be embarrassed; but he has expressed a strong wish for it” (HAMILTON [2] description begins Harold C. Syrett et al., eds. The Papers of Alexander Hamilton. 27 vols. New York, 1961–87. description ends , 6:488).

On 12 July Jefferson wrote to GW that he “had a conference yesterday with Mr. Madison on the subject recommended by the President. He has the honor of inclosing him some considerations thereon, in all of which he believes Mr. Madison concurs” (DNA: RG 59, Misc. Letters). For the enclosure, “Jefferson’s Outline of Policy Contingent on War between England and Spain,” see JEFFERSON [1] description begins Julian P. Boyd et al., eds. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. 41 vols. to date. Princeton, N.J., 1950–. description ends , 17:109–10.

bills: 1 STAT. description begins Richard Peters, ed. The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845 . . .. 8 vols. Boston, 1845-67. description ends 130 (16 July 1790) and 1 STAT. description begins Richard Peters, ed. The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845 . . .. 8 vols. Boston, 1845-67. description ends 129 (16 July 1790). The Residence Bill, establishing a new federal district on the banks of the Potomac River for the permanent capital, had been under debate in Congress since 31 May, but the struggle over the location for the capital long preceded the bill’s advent in Congress. GW’s close personal involvement in the matter will be fully treated in the correspondence volumes. Under the terms of the Residence Act the president was authorized to appoint three commissioners who would “under the direction of the President” oversee the surveying and construction of the new city, a provision which guaranteed GW’s continued close involvement with the Federal City for the rest of his administration. The act also provided that the capital would move from New York to Philadelphia by Dec. 1790 and remain there until Dec. 1800 when the new Federal City would presumably be finished.

business on which majr. beckwith was come on: See entries for 8 and 10 July 1790.