Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

 Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow TO WILLIAM HEATH. - The Writings of George Washington, vol. XIII (1794-1798)

Return to Title Page for The Writings of George Washington, vol. XIII (1794-1798)

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

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

TO WILLIAM HEATH. - George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, vol. XIII (1794-1798) [1892]

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. XIII (1794-1798).

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 WILLIAM HEATH.

Mount Vernon, 20 May, 1797.

Dear Sir,

Your kind and friendly letter of the 17th ultimo has been duly received, and I beg you to accept my sincere thanks for the affectionate sentiments you have been pleased to express for me in it.

I can assure you, Sir, I never ascribed a motive to the letter you wrote to me on my election to the chair of government, so unworthy of you as to suppose it was written with a view of “pressing yourself into notice, or seeking for a place.” On the contrary I was led to believe, that domestic enjoyments in rural pursuits had more charms for you, and were more congenial to your inclination, than any appointment that would draw you from home.

I hope, as you do, that, notwithstanding our political horizon is much overcast, the wisdom, temper, and firmness of the government, supported by the great mass of the people, will dispel the threatening clouds, and that all will end without any shedding of blood. To me this is so demonstrable, that not a particle of doubt would dwell on my mind relative thereto, if our citizens would advocate their own cause, instead of that of any other nation under the sun; that is, if, instead of being Frenchmen or Englishmen in politics, they would be Americans, indignant at every attempt of either, or any other power, to establish an influence in our councils, or presume to sow the seeds of discord or disunion among us. No policy, in my opinion, can be more clearly demonstrated, than that we should do justice to all, and have no political connexion with any of the European powers beyond those, which result from and serve to regulate our commerce with them. Our own experience, if it has not already had this effect, will soon convince us, that the idea of disinterested favors or friendship from any nation whatever is too novel to be calculated on, and there will always be found a wide difference between the words and actions of any of them.

It gives me great pleasure to hear from yourself, that you are writing Memoirs of those transactions, which passed under your notice during the revolutionary war.1 Having always understood, that you were exact and copious in noting occurrences at the time they happened, a work of this kind will, from the candor and ability with which I am persuaded your notes were taken, be uncommonly correct and interesting. Whether you mean to publish them at your own expense, or by subscription, is not intimated in your letter. If the latter, I pray you to consider me as a subscriber, and in any event as a purchaser of your production. That you may enjoy health to complete the work to your entire satisfaction, I devoutly pray, and that you may live afterwards to hear it applauded, as I doubt not it will be, I as sincerely wish. If I should live to see it published, I shall read it with great avidity. Retired from noise myself, and the responsibility attached to public employment, my hours will glide smoothly on. My best wishes, however, for the prosperity of our country will always have the first place in my thoughts; while to repair buildings, and to cultivate my farms, which require close attention, will occupy the few years, perhaps days, I may be a sojourner here, as I am now in the sixty-sixth year of my peregrination through life. With assurances of great esteem, I remain, dear Sir, &c.

[1 ]Memoirs of Major-General Heath, containing Anecdotes, Details of Skirmishes, Battles, and other Military Events During the American War.