interruption to the permanent Peace and happiness of this rising Empire-That they have been the cause of our present disquietudes, and the means of stimulating (by mis-representing the sentiments of the mass of citizens of this Country) the Directory of France to their unwarrantable Acts-not from more real affection to the nation than others possess, but to facilitate the design of subverting their own government-I have no more doubt than that I am now in the act of writing you this letter

It was at the request of the Secretary of War, my journey to Philadelphia was undertaken to assist in the formation of the Augmented Force and to effect some other military arrangements; and although your letter from York of the 7th of September came to hand before I set out, & was taken with me to be acknowledged from thence, yet my time & attention was so much occupied with the business that carried me there, that I never found leisure to do it

Lady Huntingdon, as you may have been told, was a correspondent of mine ;-and did me the honor to claim me as a relation, but in what degree, or by what connexion it came to pass, she did not inform me, nor did I ever trouble her Ladyship with an enquiry-The favorable sentiments which others, you say, have been pleased to express respecting me, cannot but be pleasing to a mind who always walked on a straight line & endeavored as far as human frailties, & perhaps strong passions would enable him, to discharge the relative duties to his Maker & fellowmen, without seeking any indirect, or left handed attempts to acquire popularity.—

Our crops of Wheat & Indian Corn last year (except in places) were extremely short-The drought of the Autumn exceeded anything that has been recollected, in so much that the Mills were scarcely able to work before New Years day.—and the Fly has again begun its ravages on the Wheat in the Counties above us-This calamity, with the severity of the Drought on the Fall seeding, has given a discouraging aspect to the ensuing crop of Wint'r Grain

We have the pleasure, frequently, of seeing or hearing from Mrs. Fairfax-and on Wednesday last Mrs. Washington & myself took a family dinner at Mount Eagle-and left all the family in good health & Spirits in the afternoon-Miss Custis was, at that time, with her mother, at Hope Park, or she would have accompanied us on that visit.-She is now returned, & unites with Mrs. Washington & myself in offering best wishes for your health & safe return— and with very great & sincere esteem & respect, I remain, dear Sir, your most obedient, &c.

P. S. Finding that I could not comprise what I had to say in one sheet of paper, I have rambled on until I have almost filled a second.1

SIR,

TO JAMES WASHINGTON.

MOUNT VERNON, 20 January, 1799.

Through the goodness of Mr. Adams, the American minister at Berlin, I am indebted for the safe conveyance of your letter, dated the 19th of Octr. in

1 I am indebted to Mrs. Burton N. Harrison for a copy of this letter-one of the many for which I am under heavy obligations to her.

that city; and through the same medium I have the honor to present this acknowledgment of it.

There can be but little doubt, Sir, of our descending from the same stock, as the branches of it proceeded from the same country. At what time your ancestors left England is not mentioned. Mine came to America nearly one hundred and fifty years ago.1 The regular course of application for military appointments is to the President of the United States, through the Secretary of War. But it would be deceptious not to apprize you beforehand, that it does not accord with the policy of this government to bestow offices civil or military upon foreigners, to the exclusion of our own citizens, first, because there is an animated zeal in the latter to serve their country, and, secondly, because the former, seldom content with the rank they sustain in the service of their own country, look for higher appointments in this; which, when bestowed, unless there is obvious cause to justify the measure, is pregnant with discontent, and therefore it is not often practised, Except in those branches of the Military Science, which relate to Engineering and Gunnery. For in those our Military establishment is defective, and men of known and acknowledged abilities, with ample testimonials thereof, would be certainly encouraged.

Deeming it better to give this candid detail, than to raise hopes that might prove fallacious, is the best apology I can offer for my plain dealing.

By the genealogical tables of the Washington family in England, it appears that more than one of that name emigrated to Holland, whose descendants were probably scattered over Germany.

At the same time be pleased to accept the assurances of my being, Sir, your most obedient, &c.

TO DAVID STUART.

MOUNT VERNON, 22 January, 1799.

DEAR SIR,

Washington leaves this day on a visit to Hope Park, which will afford you an opportunity to examine the progress he has made in the studies he was directed to pursue.

I can, and I believe I do, keep him in his room a certain portion of the twenty-four hours, but it will be impossible for me to make him attend to his books, if inclination on his part is wanting; nor while I am out if he chooses to be so, is it in my power to prevent it. I will not say this is the case, nor will I run the hazard of doing him injustice, by saying he does not apply as he ought to what has been prescribed, but no risk will be run, and candor requires I should declare it as my opinion, that he will not derive much benefit in any course which can be marked out for him at this place, without an able preceptor always

with him.

What is best to be done with him I know not. My opinion always has been, that the university in Massachusetts would have been the most eligible seminary to have sent him to; first, because it is on a larger scale than any other; and secondly, because I believe that the habits of youth there, whether from the discipline of the school, or the greater attention of the

people generally to morals, and a more regular course of life, are less prone to dissipation and excess than they are at the colleges south of it. It may be asked, if this was my opinion, why did I not send him there? The answer is as short as to me it was weighty; being the only male of his line, and knowing (although it would have been submitted to) that it would have proved a heart-rending stroke to have him at that distance, I was disposed to try a nearer seminary, of good repute, which, from some cause, or combination of causes, has not, after the experiment of a year, been found to answer the end that was contemplated. Whether to send him there now, or, indeed, to any other public school, is, indeed, problematical, and to misspend his time at this place would be disgraceful to himself and to me.

If I were to propose to him to go to the university at Cambridge, in Massachusetts, he might, as has been usual for him on like occasions, say, he would go wherever I chose to send him, but if he should go, contrary to his inclination, and without a disposition to apply himself properly, an expense without any benefit would result from the measure. Knowing how much I have been disappointed, and my time. disturbed by his conduct, he would not, I am sure, make a candid disclosure of his sentiments to me on this or any other plan I might propose for the completion of his education, for which reason, I would pray that you (or perhaps Mrs. Stuart could succeed better than any one) would draw from him a frank and explicit disclosure of what his own wishes and