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Subject Area: War and Peace
Topic: The American Revolution and Constitution

TO GOVERNOR TRUMBULL. - George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, vol. X (1782-1785) [1891]

Edition used:

The Writings of George Washington, collected and edited by Worthington Chauncey Ford (New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1890). Vol. X (1782-1785).

Part of: The Writings of George Washington, 14 vols.

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


TO GOVERNOR TRUMBULL.

My letters from Philadelphia, public and private, would give you a full account of every matter and thing respecting the Society of the Cincinnati, and upon what footing all claims to the order were thereafter to be decided. To these referring, I shall save you the trouble of reading a repetition. Considering how recently the King of Sweden has changed the form of government of that country, it is not so much to be wondered at, that his fears should get the better of his liberality, at any thing which might have the semblance of republicanism; but when it is further considered, how few of his nation had, or could have a right to the order, I think he might have suffered his complaisance to overcome them.1

Dear Sir,

I will not trouble you with a long letter at this time, because I have nothing worthy of communication. Mrs. Washington, always pleased with your recollection of her, and glad to hear of your health, prays you to accept her compliments and best wishes. Mine are always sincere and offered (though unknown) to Madame de Rochambeau, the Viscount your son, and any of the officers of the army you commanded in America, whom you may see, and with whom I have the honor of an acquaintance. With great esteem and regard, I am, dear Sir, &c.2

It was with great pleasure and thankfulness I received a recognisance of your friendship, in your letter of the 20th of last month.

[1 ]The King of Sweden had declined permitting the officers in the French army, who were his subjects, and who had been in America, to wear the order of the Cincinnati, on the ground that the institution had a republican tendency not suited to his government.

[2 ]General Washington left Mount Vernon on the 1st of September, on his tour to the western country, and was absent till the 4th of October, when he again reached home. The results of his observations during his tour will be found in his letter to Governor Harrison, which follows in the text.

It was his original purpose to go down the Ohio as far as the Great Kanawha, but he changed his design after arriving at the Monongahela, where he was informed of the disquietude of the Indians.

This tour was performed on horseback, and the whole distance travelled was six hundred and eighty miles. He crossed the mountains by the usual route of Braddock’s Road, but returned through the wild and unsettled country, which is watered by the different branches of the Cheat River, and came into the Shenandoah Valley near Staunton. He kept a journal, in which were minutely recorded his conversations with every intelligent person whom he met, respecting the facilities for internal navigation afforded by the rivers which have their sources among the Alleghany Mountains, and flow thence either to the east or the west.

[1 ]The King of Sweden had declined permitting the officers in the French army, who were his subjects, and who had been in America, to wear the order of the Cincinnati, on the ground that the institution had a republican tendency not suited to his government.

[2 ]General Washington left Mount Vernon on the 1st of September, on his tour to the western country, and was absent till the 4th of October, when he again reached home. The results of his observations during his tour will be found in his letter to Governor Harrison, which follows in the text.

It was his original purpose to go down the Ohio as far as the Great Kanawha, but he changed his design after arriving at the Monongahela, where he was informed of the disquietude of the Indians.

This tour was performed on horseback, and the whole distance travelled was six hundred and eighty miles. He crossed the mountains by the usual route of Braddock’s Road, but returned through the wild and unsettled country, which is watered by the different branches of the Cheat River, and came into the Shenandoah Valley near Staunton. He kept a journal, in which were minutely recorded his conversations with every intelligent person whom he met, respecting the facilities for internal navigation afforded by the rivers which have their sources among the Alleghany Mountains, and flow thence either to the east or the west.