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Front Page  Titles (by Subject) TO CHARLES PETTIT. - The Writings of George Washington, vol. XI (1785-1790)
TO CHARLES PETTIT. - 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 CHARLES PETTIT.
Mount Vernon, 16 August, 1788. Sir,
I have to acknowledge with much sensibility the receipt of your letter, dated the 5th instant, in which you offer your congratulations on the prospect of an established government, whose principles seem calculated to secure the benefits of society to the citizens of the United States, and in which you also give a more accurate state of federal politics in Pennsylvania than I had before received. It affords me unfeigned satisfaction to find, that the acrimony of parties is much abated.
Doubtless there are defects in the proposed system, which may be remedied in a constitutional mode. I am truly pleased to learn, that those, who have been considered as its most violent opposers, will not only acquiesce peaceably, but coöperate in its organization, and content themselves with asking amendments in the manner prescribed by the constitution. The great danger in my view was, that every thing might be thrown into the last stage of confusion before any government whatsoever could be established, and that we should suffer a political shipwreck without the aid of one friendly star to guide us into port. Every real patriot must have lamented, that private feuds and local politics should have unhappily insinuated themselves into, and in some measure obstructed, the discussion of a great national question. A just opinion, that the people when rightly informed will decide in a proper manner, ought certainly to have prevented all intemperate or precipitate proceedings on a subject of so much magnitude; nor should a regard to common decency have suffered the zealots in the minority to stigmatize the authors of the constitution as conspirators and traitors. However unfavorably individuals, blinded by passion and prejudice, might have thought of the characters who composed the convention, the election of those characters by the legislatures of the several States, and the reference of their proceedings to the free determination of their constituents, did not carry the appearance of a private combination to destroy the liberties of their country. Nor did the outrageous disposition, which some indulged in traducing and vilifying the members, seem much calculated to produce concord or accommodation.
For myself, I expected not to be exempted from obloquy any more than others. It is the lot of humanity. But if the shafts of malice had been aimed at me in ever so pointed a manner on this occasion, shielded as I was by a consciousness of having acted in conformity to what I believed my duty, they would have fallen blunted from their mark. It is known to some of my countrymen, and can be demonstrated to the conviction of all, that I was in a manner constrained to attend the general convention, in compliance with the earnest and pressing desires of many of the most respectable characters in different parts of the continent.
At my age, and in my circumstances, what sinister object or personal emolument had I to seek after in this life? The growing infirmities of age, and the increasing love of retirement, daily confirm my decided predilection for domestic life; and the great Searcher of human hearts is my witness, that I have no wish, which aspires beyond the humble and happy lot of living and dying a private citizen on my own farm.
Your candor and patriotism in endeavoring to moderate the jealousies and remove the prejudices, which a particular class of citizens had conceived against the new government, are certainly very commendable, and must be viewed as such by all true friends to their country. In this description I shall fondly hope I have a right to comprehend myself; and shall conclude by professing a grateful sense of your favorable opinion for me. I am, &c.
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