The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• 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 HENRY KNOX.

Mount Vernon, 26 December 1786.

My dear Sir,

* * * I feel, my dear General Knox, infinitely more than I can express to you, for the disorders, which have arisen in these States. Good God! Who, besides a Tory, could have foreseen, or a Briton predicted them? Were these people wiser than others, or did they judge of us from the corruption and depravity of their own hearts? The latter I am persuaded was the case and that notwithstanding the boasted virtue of America we are very little if anything behind them in dispositions to every thing that is bad.

I do assure you, that even at this moment, when I reflect upon the present prospect of our affairs, it seems to me to be like the vision of a dream. My mind can scarcely realize it as a thing in actual existence; so strange, so wonderful does it appear to me. In this, as in most other matters, we are too slow. When this spirit first dawned, probably it might have been easily checked; but it is scarcely within the reach of human ken, at this moment, to say when, where, or how it will terminate. There are combustibles in every State, which a spark might set fire to. In this a perfect calm prevails at present; and a prompt disposition to support and give energy to the federal system is discovered, if the unlucky stirring of the dispute respecting the navigation of the Mississippi does not become a leaven that will ferment and sour the mind of it.

The resolutions of the present session respecting a paper emission, military certificates, &c., have stamped justice and liberality on the proceedings of the Assembly. By a late act, it seems very desirous of a general convention to revise and amend the federal constitution. Apropos; what prevented the eastern States from attending the September meeting at Annapolis? Of all the States in the Union it should have seemed to me, that a measure of this sort, (distracted as they were with internal commotions and experiencing the want of energy in the government,) would have been most pleasing to them. What are the prevailing sentiments of the one now proposed to be held in Philadelphia in May next? and how will it be attended? You are at the fountain of intelligence, where the wisdom of the nation, it is to be presumed, is concentred; consequently better able, (as I have had sufficient experience of your intelligence, confidence, and candor,) to solve these questions.

The Maryland Assembly has been violently agitated by the question for a paper emission. It has been carried in the House of Delegates; but what has been or may be the fate of the bill in the Senate, I have not yet heard. The partisans in favor of the measure in the lower House threaten, it is said, a secession, if it is rejected by that branch of the legislature. Thus are we advancing. In regretting, which I have often done with the keenest sorrow, the death of our much lamented friend General Greene, I have accompanied it of late with a query, whether he would not have preferred such an exit to the scenes, which, it is more than probable, many of his compatriots may live to bemoan.

In both your letters you intimate, that the men of reflection, principle, and property in New England, feeling the inefficacy of their present government, are contemplating a change; but you are not explicit with respect to its nature. It has been supposed, that the constitution of the State of Massachusetts was amongst the most energetic in the Union. May not these disorders then be ascribed to an indulgent exercise of the powers of administration? If your laws authorized, and your powers are equal to the suppression of these tumults in the first instance, delay and unnecessary expedients were improper. These are rarely well applied; and the same causes would produce similar effects in any form of government, if the powers of it are not exercised. I ask this question for information. I know nothing of the facts.

That Great Britain will be an unconcerned spectator of the present insurrections, if they continue, is not to be expected. That she is at this moment sowing the seeds of jealousy and discontent among the various tribes of Indians on our frontiers, admits of no doubt in my mind; and that she will improve every opportunity to foment the spirit of turbulence within the bowels of the United States, with a view of distracting our governments and promoting divisions, is with me not less certain. Her first manœuvres in this will no doubt be covert, and may remain so till the period shall arrive when a decided line of conduct may avail her. Charges of violating the treaty, and other pretexts, will then not be wanting to color overt acts, tending to effect the great objects of which she has long been in labor. A man is now at the head of their American affairs, well calculated to conduct measures of this kind, and more than probably was selected for the purpose. We ought not therefore to sleep nor to slumber. Vigilance in watching and vigor in acting is become in my opinion indispensably necessary. If the powers are inadequate, amend or alter them; but do not let us sink into the lowest state of humiliation and contempt, and become a by-word in all the earth. I think with you, that the spring will unfold important and distressing scenes, unless much wisdom and good management is displayed in the interim. Adieu. Be assured no man has a higher esteem and regard for you, than I have; none more sincerely your friend.

P. S. Mrs. Washington joins me in every good wish for you and Mrs. Knox and in compliments of congratulation on the late addition to your family.

1787.