Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow TO FRANCIS HOPKINSON. - The Writings of George Washington, vol. X (1782-1785)

Return to Title Page for The Writings of George Washington, vol. X (1782-1785)

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

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

TO FRANCIS HOPKINSON. - 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 FRANCIS HOPKINSON.

On the 8th instant I received the favor of your letter of the 30th of May. In answer to it I can only say, that your own good judgment must direct you in the publication of the manuscript papers of General Lee. I can have no request to make concerning the work.

Dear Sir,

I never had a difference with that gentleman but on public ground, and my conduct towards him upon this occasion was such only, as I conceived myself indispensably bound to adopt in discharge of the public trust reposed in me. If this produced in him unfavorable sentiments of me, I yet can never consider the conduct I pursued, with respect to him, either wrong or improper, however I may regret that it may have been differently viewed by him, and that it excited his censure and animadversions. Should there appear in General Lee’s writings any thing injurious or unfriendly to me, the impartial and dispassionate world must decide how far I deserved it from the general tenor of my conduct.

In for a penny, in for a pound, is an old adage. I am so hackneyed to the touches of the painter’s pencil, that I am now altogether at their beck; and sit, “like Patience on a monument,” whilst they are delineating the lines of my face. It is a proof, among many others, of what habit and custom can accomplish. At first I was as impatient at the request, and as restive under the operation, as a colt is of the saddle. The next time I submitted very reluctantly, but with less flouncing. Now, no dray-horse moves more readily to his thill than I to the painter’s chair. It may easily be conceived, therefore, that I yielded a ready obedience to your request and to the views of Mr. Pine.

I am gliding down the stream of life, and wish, as is natural, that my remaining days may be undisturbed and tranquil; and, conscious of my integrity, I would willingly hope, that nothing would occur tending to give me anxiety; but should any thing present itself in this or any other publication, I shall never undertake the painful task of recrimination, nor do I know that I should even enter upon my justification. I consider the communication you have made as a mark of great attention, and the whole of your letter as a proof of your esteem. I am, &c.1

Letters from England recommendatory of this gentleman came to my hands previous to his arrival; not only as an artist of genius and taste, but as one who had shown a very friendly disposition towards this country, for which it seems he had been marked.

[1 ]The manuscript papers of General Charles Lee were left by his will to Mr. Goddard, who was at this time publisher of the Maryland Journal, in Baltimore. He issued proposals for printing the papers of General Lee in three volumes. The work never appeared. It is said, that a person, whom he had associated with him in preparing the materials for the press, betrayed his trust, and sent parts of the manuscripts to England, where they were sold for his own benefit. They afforded the groundwork of a volume first printed in London, imperfect in its arrangement and character, entitled “The Life and Memoirs of the late Major-General Charles Lee.”—Thomas’ History of Printing, vol. ii., p. 355. The four volumes of Lee Papers issued by the New York Historical Society contain ample evidence of Lee’s antagonism to and abuse of Washington.

[1 ]The manuscript papers of General Charles Lee were left by his will to Mr. Goddard, who was at this time publisher of the Maryland Journal, in Baltimore. He issued proposals for printing the papers of General Lee in three volumes. The work never appeared. It is said, that a person, whom he had associated with him in preparing the materials for the press, betrayed his trust, and sent parts of the manuscripts to England, where they were sold for his own benefit. They afforded the groundwork of a volume first printed in London, imperfect in its arrangement and character, entitled “The Life and Memoirs of the late Major-General Charles Lee.”—Thomas’ History of Printing, vol. ii., p. 355. The four volumes of Lee Papers issued by the New York Historical Society contain ample evidence of Lee’s antagonism to and abuse of Washington.