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

TO GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. [PRIVATE] - 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.

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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 GOUVERNEUR MORRIS.

[PRIVATE]

Mount Vernon, 25 June, 1794.

My dear Sir:

The sole object of the enclosed letter2 was to evince to you, that, notwithstanding your recall, you held the same place in my estimation that you did before it happened. I expected to get the letter into Colonel Monroe’s hands before the vessel, in which he was, had left the Petapsco River; but a fresh and fair wind coming up prevented its reaching him.

Since my arrival at this place I have been favored with your private latter of the 12th of March, enclosing duplicate of the 5th of February. For both I thank you. To common accidents, or to the interception of letters, for purposes to be guessed, are to be ascribed those disappointments of which you complain; for I am almost certain, information of what was going forward in this country was regularly transmitted to you; possibly, and probably, not by duplicates, which ought to have been the case, for the greater certainty of getting it to you.1

The uncertainty (when letters are not intrusted to confidential persons, or sent by special messengers,) of their coming to hand, will restrain me from going into detail at this time. I shall only add, therefore, to the acknowledgment of the receipt of the above letters, that I am entirely ignorant of the source from whence, or the foundation on which, Major Jackson has erected the fabrics of your recall and your successor. Directly nor indirectly could he have derived them from me, for the best of all reasons, namely, that not until some considerable time after M. Fauchet had arrived in this country did I entertain an idea of the first, or contemplate the latter; for until then I had supposed you stood well with the powers that were.1 Sure I am, nothing short of evidence to the contrary, (with the request that accompanied it,) would have induced the measure. To Major Jackson I have never written a line since he left this country, nor received one from him.

The prospective you have drawn is not very pleasing; but it serves to make one more anxious for a nearer view.

The affairs of this country cannot go amiss. There are so many watchful guardians of them, and such infallible guides, that one is at no loss for a director at every turn. But of these matters I shall say little; if you are disposed to return to it, [I] leave you to judge of them from your own observation. My primary objects, to which I have steadily adhered, have been to preserve the country in peace if I can, and to be prepared for war if I cannot; to effect the first, upon terms consistent with the respect which is due to ourselves, and with honor, justice, and good faith to all the world.

Mr. Jay (and not Mr. Jefferson) as has been suggested to you, embarked as envoy extraordinary for England about the middle of May, If he succeeds, well; if he does not, why, knowing the worst, we must take measures accordingly. I am yours affectionately.

[2 ]“The difficulty, under existing circumstances, of knowing what to write to you, had determined me to write nothing, but to let the matter rest altogether upon the public communications from the Secretary of State.

“Coming to this place, however, on a flying visit to Mount Vernon, and finding the vessel, which Mr. Monroe is on board of, had not left the river, I have so far departed from my determination, as to be seated in order to assure you, that my confidence in and friendship and regard for you remain undiminished.

“To time, and your own observations, if you should return immediately to this country, I commit the rest; and it will be nothing new to assure you, that I am always and very sincerely yours.”—Washington to Gouverneur Morris, 19 June, 1794.

It was on the 27th of May that Washington informed the Senate that he had seen fit to recall Morris at the request of the Executive Provisory Council of the republic of France.

[1 ]“I am sorry to find by his [Morris] private letters (two of which I send for your perusal, and to be returned), that he and our other ministers abroad are continually repeating and complaining of their want of information from the department of state. This, I am sensible, does not apply to you, because, among other reasons, there has not been time between your coming into office and the dates of their letters for ground of such complaints. Nor do I think it applicable to your predecessor, further than as it may have proceeded from miscarriages and the want of duplicates. As, however, the evil complained of may be attended with serious consequences if not remedied, I am led to take this notice of it, in order that duplicates always, and in certain cases triplicates, may be forwarded for the information and government of our agents in foreign countries.”—Washington to Randolph, 30 June, 1794.

[1 ]This was a slip of memory, for both Ternant and Genet had intimated dissatisfaction with Morris on the part of the Executive Council.—Jefferson to Washington, 11 December, 1793; Genet to Jefferson, 18 September, 1793.