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

NOTE. - George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, vol. XIV (1798-1799) [1893]

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. XIV (1798-1799).

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.


Of this Letter-press Edition

750 Copies have been Printed for Sale

No._____

August, 1893

NOTE.

Mr. Sparks printed in his collection of Washington’s “Writings” upwards of twenty-five hundred letters, apart from his journals and memoranda. I have increased the number of letters to more than three thousand, and draw more freely on the diaries, farm journals, and plans of compaigns and of army organization. The difficulty lay principally in making a proper selection from the wealth of material found; one that would preserve a proper balance between the public and the private acts of the man, so displaying his character more fully than has been done. If I have partially succeeded in this attempt, I am content; the result can be entirely satisfactory least of all to myself, who in daily study for more than four years have been brought to realize the man’s true greatness, and his relation to the history of his times. I frankly confess to a certain feeling of disappointment, as his reserve has left so many of the important events of his career unexplained; but I am in part consoled by a knowledge that in this new collection of his writings a patient study will obtain much that is of value.

Again I thank the many kind friends who have given me freely of their stores. Mr. Crosby, of Boston, sent copies of all the important collection of letters from Washington to General Lincoln, and placed them at my disposal. Mr. F. B. McGuire, of Washington, supplied me with the Washington-Madison correspondence, since unfortunately scattered. Dr. John S. H. Fogg, of Boston, Dr. Thomas Addis Emmett, of New York, and the late Mr. Cassius F. Lee, Jr., of Alexandria, have never refused access to their stores; while Mr. William F. Havemeyer, of New York, has done a patriotic duty in bringing together a splendid collection of Washingtoniana, to which I was able to refer whenever I desired. Mrs. Burton Harrison gave me copies of the Washington-Fairfax letters, and heavy drafts have been made upon the Historical Societies. I am happy to record the public-spirited conduct of these societies—with but two exceptions. The Long Island Historical Society, of Brooklyn, and the New York Historical Society, proved themselves to be historical societies only in name.

One debt I can never sufficiently acknowledge. There was one who first offered his counsel and aid, and whose kindly encouragement, intelligent criticism, and hearty sympathy in the undertaking made smooth many rough places, and without whose co-operation the work could not have been brought to a successful issue under my editorship. To my father, Gordon Lester Ford, who did not live to see the last volumes, I owe the debt of gratitude, and in affectionate remembrance of which I record his name in this connection. My brother, Paul Leicester Ford, has been as untiring in his assistance as he has proved learned in American history.

Worthington Chauncey Ford.

Washington, D. C.,
11 August, 1893.