Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

 Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow TO M. LAFAYETTE. - The Writings of George Washington, vol. XII (1790-1794)

Return to Title Page for The Writings of George Washington, vol. XII (1790-1794)

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

Subject Area: Political Theory
Topic: The American Revolution and Constitution

TO M. LAFAYETTE. - George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, vol. XII (1790-1794) [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. XII (1790-1794).

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 M. LAFAYETTE.

Philadelphia, 10 September, 1791.

The lively interest, which I take in your welfare, my dear Sir, keeps my mind in constant anxiety for your personal safety amidst the scenes in which you are perpetually engaged. Your letter of the 6th of June by M. de Ternant gave me that pleasure, which I receive from all your letters, which tell me you are well. But, from the account you there gave, it did not appear, that you would be soon relieved from your arduous labors; and, from the information we have received of an important event, which has taken place since that time, it does not appear likely, that the clouds which have long obscured your political horizon will be soon dispersed. As yet we are in suspense as to what may have been the consequences of this event; and feeling, as we do in this country, a sincere regard for the French nation, we are not a little anxious about them. Opinions we are not able to form here; therefore none can be given on the subject. But at any rate, you may be assured, my dear Sir, that we do not view with indifference the happiness of so many millions.

I am glad of M. de Ternant’s appointment to this country; for I have a good opinion of his abilities, discretion, and proper views; and, as you observe, as he seems to belong to both countries, there is no doubt but this, joined to the good information which he possesses of the relative and particular interests of both, will enable him to render as much service, and be as acceptable to each, as any man can be.1

I shall next week set off for Mount Vernon with Mrs. Washington and the children, where I shall, if possible, enjoy a few weeks of retirement before the meeting of Congress in the last of October. Indeed, my presence there, (as it will not at this time interfere with my public duties,) is necessary for my interest, as George, your old aid, has for some time past been too much indisposed to pay attention to my concerns, and is now over the mountains for his health. The last account from him was favorable. He had received benefit from his journey. I sincerely wish, my dear Sir, that the affairs of your country were in such a train as would permit you to relax a little from the excessive fatigues to which you have of late been exposed; and I cannot help looking forward with an anxious wish, and a lively hope, to the time when peace and tranquillity will reign in your borders, under the sanction of a respectable government, founded on the broad basis of liberality and the rights of man. It must be so. The great Ruler of events will not permit the happiness of so many millions to be destroyed; and to his keeping I resign you, my dear Sir, with all that friendship and affectionate attachment, with which you know me to be, &c.

[1 ]“To M. de Ternant I refer for more particulars. Mr. Jefferson and myself had long thought that Ternant was a very proper man to act as French minister in America. He in a great measure belongs to both countries. He is sensible, honest, well informed, and has a plain and decisive way of doing business, which will be very convenient. He has long been an officer under your command, feeling and acting in an American capacity. He is personally much attached to you, and I have had in this revolution many instances of his friendship for me. He might have been a minister in the Council, but was rather backward on the occasion, and behaved as a prudent, not an ambitious man.

“Mr. Short, who does the business of the United States with all the zeal and ingenuity of a most patriotic and sensible man, and who is respected and loved in France in a manner equally useful to the public and honorable to himself, has written to Mr. Jefferson respecting New Orleans. France will do every thing in her power to bring Spain to reason, but will have a difficult and probably unsuccessful task. Upon the whole, that navigation [of the Mississippi] we must have, and in case the people of Louisiana wish to make a fifteenth State, who can help it, and who ought, Spaniards excepted, not to rejoice at it? For my part, certainly, I should not be a mourner.”—Lafayette to Washington, 6 June, 1791.