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Front Page  Titles (by Subject) TO JAMES McHENRY, SECRETARY OF WAR. [PRIVATE.] - The Writings of George Washington, vol. XIV (1798-1799)
TO JAMES McHENRY, SECRETARY OF WAR. [PRIVATE.] - 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).
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- Note.
- The Writings of George Washington.
- 1798.
- To James Anderson.
- To Alexander Hamilton.
- To Jeremy Belknap.
- To John Adams, President of the United States.
- To James Lloyd.
- To James Lloyd.
- To John Adams, President of the United States.
- To James Mchenry, Secretary of War.
- To James Mchenry, Secretary of War.
- To Sir John Sinclair.
- To Timothy Pickering, Secretary of State.
- To John Adams, President of the United States.
- To Alexander Hamilton. [private and Confidential.]
- To Henry Knox.
- To James Mchenry, Secretary of War.
- To James Anderson.
- To James Mchenry. [private.]
- To James Mchenry, Secretary of War.
- To Henry Knox.
- To Alexander Hamilton.
- To James Mchenry, Secretary of War. [private and Confidential.]
- To William Vans Murray.
- To Jonathan Boucher.
- To Bushrod Washington.
- To — Mcdowell. 1
- To James Mchenry, Secretary of War.
- To Alexander Spotswood.
- To James Mchenry, Secretary of War. [private and Confidential.]
- To James Mchenry, Secretary of War. [private and Confidential.]
- To John Adams, President of the United States.
- To James Mchenry, Secretary of War.
- To James Mchenry.
- To Timothy Pickering, Secretary of State.
- To Timothy Pickering, Secretary of State.
- To Henry Knox.
- To James Mchenry. [private and Confidential.]
- To James Mchenry, Secretary of War.
- To G. W. Snyder. 1
- To Timothy Pickering, Secretary of War.
- To Alexander Spotswood.
- To General Lafayette.
- To William Vans Murray. 1
- To David Stuart.
- To Bushrod Washington.
- 1799.
- To Patrick Henry. [confidential]
- To Bryan, Lord Fairfax.
- To James Washington.
- To David Stuart.
- To James Mchenry, Secretary of War. [private].
- To Timothy Pickering.
- To Alexander Hamilton, Major General. [private.]
- To Timothy Pickering, Secretary of State. [confidential.]
- To John Adams, President of the United States.
- To James Mchenry, Secretary of War.
- To Charles C. Pinckney, Major-general.
- To James Welch.
- To James Mchenry, Secretary of War. [private.]
- To John Marshall.
- To Alexander Hamilton, Major-general.
- To Archibald Blair. 2
- To John Trumbull.
- To Governor Jonathan Trumbull.
- To James Mchenry.
- To Robert Lewis.
- To Governor Jonathan Trumbull.
- To James Mchenry, Secretary of War. [private.]
- To James Mchenry, Secretary of War.
- To Alexander Hamilton, Major-general.
- To Lawrence Lewis.
- To Burges Ball.
- To William Vans Murray.
- To James Mchenry, Secretary of War. [private.]
- To James Anderson.
- River Farm
- To Alexander Hamilton.
- Extract From a Diary.
- Last Illness and Death. 1
- Particular Account of the Late Illness and Death of George Washington.
- Tobias Lear to William Augustine Washington.
- Tobias Lear to Col. Burges Ball.
- In Congress.
- Mrs. Washington to President Adams.
- Mrs. Washington to Governor Trumbull.
- The Will of George Washington. 1
- Appendix.
- To Lund Washington.
- The Washington Family.
- Washington’s Aides-de-camp.
TO JAMES McHENRY, SECRETARY OF WAR.
[PRIVATE.]
Mount Vernon, 17th Novr., 1799. My dear Sir,
Your confidential and interesting letter of the 10th instant came duly and safely to hand; with the contents of which I have been stricken dumb; and I believe it is better that I should remain mute than express any sentiment on the important matters, which are related therein.
I have, for some time past, viewed the political concerns of the United States with an anxious and painful eye. They appear to me to be moving by hasty strides to some awful crisis; but in what it will result, that Being, who sees, foresees, and directs all things, alone can tell. The Vessel is afloat, or very nearly so, and considering myself as a Passenger only, I shall trust to the Mariners, whose duty it is to watch, to steer it into a safe Port.
The charge of British influence, in the appointment of Major Pinckney to be Minister at the Court of London, is a perfect enigma. My curiosity leads me to inquire on what ground it is built, and you would oblige me by giving an explanation. Was it the measure or the man that gave rise to this insinuation? The first it cannot be, because an exchange of Ministers had long been invited, sought after, and the tardiness of G Britain, in not meeting the advances of the U. States in this respect, was considered & complained of as an indignity. Could it be the man? Could he, who had fought against that Country, and bled in defence of his own in the conflict, a man of acknowledged abilities & irreproachable character, be suspected of undue influence? If neither, I ask again on what is the accusation founded? The whole is a mystery to me. And merely to satisfy my curiosity, I wish to have it unriddled; & not, from the present view which I have of the subject, because I shall think myself bound to answer any interrogatories, which may be dictated by insiduous impertinence. With the greatest esteem and regard I remain My dear Sir Your sincere friend and affectionate Hble. Servant.
“The President has resolved to send the Commissioners to France, notwithstanding the change of affairs there. He is not understood to have consulted either of his ministers; certainly not either the Secretary of War or of Finance. All my calculations lead me to regret the measure. I hope that it may not in its consequences involve the United States in a war on the side of France with her enemies. My trust in Providence, which has so often interposed in our favor, is my only consolation.”—Hamilton to Washington, 21 October, 1799.
“The purport of your (private) letter of the 21st, with respect to a late decision, has surprised me exceedingly. I was surprised at the measure; how much more so at the manner of it! This business seems to have commenced in an evil hour, and under unfavorable auspices. And I wish mischief may not tread in all its steps, and be the final result of the measure. A wide door was open, through which a retreat might have been made from the first faux pas, the shutting of which, to those who are not behind the curtain, and are as little acquainted with the secrets of the cabinet as I am, is, from the present aspect of European affairs, quite incomprehensible. But I have the same reliance on Providence, which you express, and trust that matters will end well, however unfavorable they may appear at present.”—Washington to Hamilton, 27 October, 1799.
“As men will view the same thing in different lights, I would now fain hope, that the President has caught the true one, and that good will come from the mission, which is about to depart. These are my wishes, and no one is more ardent in them; but I see nothing in the present aspect of European affairs, on which to build them, nor any possible evil, under the same circumstances, which could result from delay. But as the measure is resolved on, I trust as you do, that that Providence, which has directed all our steps hitherto, will continue to direct them to the consummation of our prosperity and happiness.”—Washington to Pickering, 3 November, 1799.
See Hamilton’s pamphlet on John Adams, printed in his Writings (Lodge’s edition), vi., 404.
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