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Front Page  Titles (by Subject) TO ALEXANDER HAMILTON. - The Writings of George Washington, vol. XI (1785-1790)
TO ALEXANDER HAMILTON. - George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, vol. XI (1785-1790) [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. XI (1785-1790).
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- The Writings of George Washington.
- 1785.
- To James Warren.
- To Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia,
- To George William Fairfax.
- To Lund Washington.
- To James Madison.
- To Alexander Hamilton.
- To the Trustees of the Alexandria Academy.
- 1786.
- To Benjamin Lincoln.
- To Samuel Purviance, Esq.
- To Cols. Fitzgerald and Gilpin.
- To Robert Morris.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To John Jay.
- To Henry L. Charton.
- To James Tilghman.
- To Henry Lee, In Congress.
- To William Grayson, In Congress.
- To Wakelin Welch, Esq.
- To the Chevalier De La Luzerne.
- To Thomas Jefferson.
- To John Jay.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To David Humphreys. 1
- To John Francis Mercer.
- To William Triplet.
- To Bushrod Washington.
- To George Augustine Washington.
- To Henry Lee, In Congress.
- To James Madison.
- To Bushrod Washington.
- To James Madison.
- To Fielding Lewis.
- To P. Marsteller.
- To James Madison.
- To Edmund Randolph, Governor of Virginia. 1
- To David Humphreys.
- To Henry Knox.
- 1787.
- To Bushrod Washington.
- To Henry Knox.
- To Charles Washington.
- To Mrs. Mary Washington.
- To Thomas Stone. 1
- To Colonel David Humphreys.
- To John Jay.
- To Major-general Benjamin Lincoln.
- To Edmund Randolph, Governor of Virginia.
- To James Madison, In Congress. 1
- To Henry Knox.
- To Henry Knox.
- To Lund Washington.
- Diary During the Constitutional Convention, May—september, 1787. 1
- To Thomas Jefferson.
- To David Stuart.
- To Alexander Hamilton.
- To Richard Henry Lee.
- To Patrick Henry.
- To Colonel David Humphreys.
- To James Madison, In Congress.
- To Henry Knox.
- To Alexander Hamilton.
- To James Madison, In Congress.
- To Mathew Carey.
- To Archibald Johnston.
- To Arthur Young.
- To James Madison, In Congress.
- To Bushrod Washington.
- To Thomas Johnson.
- To David Stuart.
- To James Madison, In Congress.
- To Colonel Thomas Lewis.
- 1788.
- To Thomas Jefferson.
- To Edmund Randolph, Governor of Virginia.
- To Colonel Frederick Weissenfels.
- To James Madison, In Congress.
- To Charles Carter.
- To Jonathan Trumbull.
- To James Madison, In Congress.
- To the Chevalier De La Luzerne.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To Alexander Spotswood.
- To Samuel Griffin.
- To Benjamin Lincoln.
- To James Madison, In Congress.
- To Samuel Hanson, Esq.
- To the Count De Moustier.
- To Henry Knox.
- To Charles Lee.
- To James Wilson.
- To Thomas Johnson.
- To the Marquis De Chastellux.
- To John Armstrong.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To the Count De Rochambeau.
- To Benjamin Lincoln.
- To George Steptoe Washington. 1
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To James Madison.
- To John Jay.
- To William Smith, and Others, of Baltimore.
- To Henry Knox.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To Richard Henderson. 1
- To Charles Carter.
- To Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.
- To Benjamin Lincoln.
- To John Jay.
- To Noah Webster.
- To James Madison, In Congress.
- To George Steptoe Washington.
- To Charles Pettit.
- To John Beale Bordley.
- To the Count De Moustier.
- To Benjamin Lincoln.
- To Alexander Hamilton.
- To Thomas Jefferson.
- To Henry Lee, In Congress.
- To James Madison, In Congress.
- To Alexander Hamilton.
- To Benjamin Lincoln.
- To Mathew Carey.
- To Arthur Young.
- To William Gordon.
- 1789.
- To William Pierce.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To Benjamin Lincoln.
- To Samuel Powel.
- To Thomas Jefferson.
- To Harry Innes.
- To Captain Richard Conway.
- To Benjamin Harrison.
- To George Steptoe Washington.
- To James Madison, In Congress.
- To Thomas Green. 2
- To Henry Knox.
- To John Langdon.
- Inaugural Speech to Both Houses of Congress, April 30th, 1789.
- Fellow-citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives,
- Reply to the Answer of the Senate.
- Reply to the Answer of the House of Representatives.
- To Edward Rutledge.
- To James Madison.
- To Mary Wooster. 1
- To Count De Moustier. [confidential.]
- To Mathew Carey.
- To the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. 1
- To James Mchenry.
- To John Jay. [private.]
- To Charles Thomson.
- To David Stuart.
- To James Madison.
- Sentiments Expressed By the President to the Committee From the Senate, Appointed to Confer With Him On the Mode of Communication Between the President and the Senate Respecting Treaties and Nominations.
- To James Madison. [confidential.]
- To Benjamin Lincoln.
- To James Craik.
- To Mrs. Betty Lewis.
- To Benjamin Franklin.
- To Edmund Randolph.
- To Gouverneur Morris.
- To Thomas Jefferson.
- To Gouverneur Morris.
- To Gouverneur Morris.
- To John Hancock.
- To Beverley Randolph, Governor of Virginia.
- To James Mchenry. [confidential.]
- To Edmund Randolph.
- To Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury.
- To Jabez Bowen.
- 1790.
- Speech to Both Houses of Congress, January 8th, 1790.
- Fellow-citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:
- Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:
- Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives:
- To Catharine Macaulay Graham.
- To Charles Pinckney, Governor of South Carolina. [private.]
- To Thomas Jefferson.
- To Edmund Randolph, Attorney-general.
- To David Stuart.
- To the Marquis De La Luzerne. 1
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To David Stuart.
- To Clement Biddle.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To Henry Knox, Secretary of War.
- To Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury.
- To Tobias Lear.
- To Henry Knox, Secretary of War. [private.]
- To George Steptoe Washington.
TO ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
Mount Vernon, 11 December, 1785. Dear Sir,
I have been favored with your letter of the 25th of November by Major Farlie.
Sincerely do I wish that the several State Societies had, or would, adopt the alterations that were recommended by the General meeting in May, 1784.—I then thought, and have had no cause since to change my opinion, that if the Society of the Cincinnati mean to live in peace with the rest of their fellow citizens, they must subscribe to the alterations which were at that time adopted.
That the jealousies of, and prejudices against this Society were carried to an unwarrantable length, I will readily grant. And that less than was done, ought to have removed the fears which had been imbibed, I am as clear in, as I am that it would not have done it. But it is a matter of little moment whether the alarm which seized the public mind was the result of foresight—envy and jealousy—or a disordered imagination; the effect of perseverance would have been the same; wherein there would have been found an equivalent for the separation of the Interests, which (from my best information, not from one state only but from many) would inevitably have taken place?
The fears of the people are not yet removed, they only sleep, and a very little matter will set them afloat again. Had it not been for the predicament we stood in with respect to the foreign officers, and the charitable part of the Institution, I should on that occasion, as far as my voice would have gone, have endeavored to convince the narrow-minded part of our Countrymen that the Amor Patriæ was much stronger in our breasts than theirs—and that our conduct through the whole of the business was actuated by nobler and more generous sentiments than were apprehended, by abolishing the Society at once, with a declaration of the causes, and the purity of its intention. But the latter may be interesting to many, and the former, is an inseparable bar to such a step.
I am sincerely concerned to find by your letter that the Baron is again in straightened circumstances—I am much disinclined to ask favors of Congress, but if I knew what the objects of his wishes are, I should have much pleasure in rendering him any services in my power with such members of that body as I now and then corrispond with.—I had flattered myself, from what was told me some time ago, that Congress had made a final settlement with the Baron much to his satisfaction. * * *
“I have received the pamphlet, which you were so obliging as to send me, entitled ‘Considerations on the Order of Cincinnatus, by the Count de Mirabeau.’ I thank you, my good Sir, for this instance of your attention, but wish you had taken time to have perused it first, as I have not yet had leisure to give it a reading. I thought, as most others seemed to think, that all the exceptionable parts of that institution had been done away at the last general meeting; but, with those who are disposed to cavil, or who have the itch of writing strongly upon them, nothing can be made to suit their palates. The best way, therefore, to disconcert and defeat them, is to take no notice of their publications. All else is but food for declamation.
“There is not, I conceive, an unbiassed mind, that would refuse the officers of the late army the right of associating for the purpose of establishing a fund for the support of the poor and distressed of their fraternity, when many of them, it is well known, are reduced to their last shifts by the ungenerous conduct of their country in not adopting more vigorous measures to render their certificates productive. That charity is all that remains of the original institution, none, who will be at the trouble of reading it, can deny.”—Washington to Samuel Vaughan, 30 November, 1785.
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