If there has been any management in the business, it has been concealed from me. I have had no agency therein, nor have I conceived a thought on the subject, that has not been disclosed to you with the utmost sincerity and frankness of heart. And notwithstanding the insinuations, wch are implied in your letter, of the vicissitudes of friendship, and the inconstancy of mine, I will pronounce with decision, that it ever has been, still is, and, notwithstanding the unkindness of the charge, ever will be, (for aught I know to the contrary,) warm and sincere. I earnestly wished, on account of that friendship, as well as on the score of military talents, to have had the assistance of you and Colonel Hamilton in the arduous contest with which we are threatened. I wish it still and devoutly, as well on public as on private accounts; for dissensions of this sort will have an unhappy effect among the friends of Government, while it will be sweet consolation to the French partisans, and food for their Pride.1 * * * Lengthy as this letter is I must ask leave to make an observation on the following passage in yours, which I hope inadvertently escaped you. Speaking of Genl. Officers you say, if so "New England which must furnish the majority of the Army, if one shall be raised, will be without a Major General or have the junr. one. Whether they will possess such a sense of inferiority as to bear such a state of things 1 A paragraph is here omitted, which is so much defaced in the manuscript as not to be intelligible. It relates to what General Knox had said respecting the unequal distribution of the general officers in different parts of the country. patiently—whether their zeal & confidence will thereby be excited, time will discover." I hope in God that at no time, much less the present, when everything sacred & dear is threatened, that local distinctions & little jealousies will be done away. If the arrange ment Massachusetts who comd affect New England, & three Brigadiers, for the augmented Army would have two? of each, and from New Jersey & P -ward there are four out of six. What distribution more equal could be made with the strictest eye to locality or Geographical refinement; may it not be asked what advantage would a State or States derive from the Senior more than the junr. Major General, equal privileges being attached to all on the same establishment? except that the Senior in the usual routine has the best chance of being Commander in chief. I will now close my letter, spun to an infinitely greater length than I expected when I began, with a solemn declaration, that if such powers as I suggested in the early part of this letter had, (as I think they ought, under the circumstances of the case) been given to the President, and the consequent meeting had taken place in Philadelphia, I should have been perfectly satisfied with any arrangement, that would have produced harmony and content; for nothing could be farther from my wish, than to see you in a degraded point of view. How the commissions are dated I know not. I am, as I ever have been, my dear Sir, your sincere friend and affectionate servant. MY DEAR SIR, TO ALEXANDER HAMILTON. MOUNT VERNON, 9 August, 1798. By the same Post which brought me your favor, began in Philadelphia and ended in New York the Ist instant, I received a letter from General Knox dated the 29th ulto. in answer to one I had written him on the 16th of that month.—In confidence, and as a proof of my frankness and friendship, I send both of them to you, together with my reply of this date ;— which, after reading be so good as to return to me.— Giving you the perusal of this correspondence, supercedes the necessity of my going into further details on the subject of relative rank;-except, if the Commissions are yet to issue, and it be practicable at this time, and consistent also, I should not be indisposed (so far as my agency in the business extends, if that would satisfy General Knox,) to make him the senior of General Pinckney.-But as the President is absent-and it might have been the understanding of the Senate that the latter should be first-the propriety of the change, unless it could be effected with the consent of Gen. Pinckney, might at least be questioned. Though upon more mature reflection I do not see upon what principle he could object.—I have a high opinion of General Pinckney's qualifications as an officer, and his integrity as a man, but under the impression I am that the Southern Hemisphere will be the grand theatre of action, I shall honestly confess that my primary object in gratifying him is, that he may come forward with all his force. Your opinion respecting the unfitness of a certain Gentleman' for the office he holds, accords with mine, and it is to be regretted, sorely, at this time that these opinions are so well founded.-I early discovered, after he entered upon the Duties of his office that his talents were unequal to great exertions, or deep resources. In truth they were not expected ;-for the fact is, it was a Hobson's choice.-But such is the case, and what is to be done? I am held in the most profound ignorance of every step that has been taken since he left this place ;-and but, for other letters which I have been obliged to have ready for this days Post, I should have written very seriously to him on several matters, highly interesting to me, if I am to be called to the field; and that which you have mentioned among the rest.—I am not at this moment, made acquainted with a single step that is taken to appoint an Officer or Recruit a man, or where the rendezvouses are.-Numberless applications have been made to me, to be recommended for Commissions, and such as appeared to have merit I forwarded, but know nothing of the Result.— Let me hope that you will be able to devote a good deal of your time to the business of recruiting good men, and the choice of good officers. It is all important. I will endeavor to impress him with propriety of requiring your assistance in these matters; and of the necessity of making you the full allowance of Pay, &c. for these services.-By bringing you thus in contact, a thousand other matters will fall in of course.-Delicacy-if matters became serious, must 1 James McHenry. yield to expediency.—The stake we play for is too great to be trifled with. Mr. Harper has been presented to my consideration before, as an Aid-de Camp, but as I shall have no use for my military family until matters are more matured, I am unwilling to be embarrassed by engagements. My Aids, as you well know, must be men of business; and ought to be officers of experience.-Many, very many young Gentlemen of the first families in the Country, have offered their services;—and all have received one answer, to the above effect. Indeed in the choice of my Aids, a variety of considerations must combine-political-geographical, &c, as well as experience. What is become of Walker? Colo. Heth has offered and stands well in my estimation, without a promise.-No Foreigner will be admitted as a member of my family, while I retain my present ideas;— nor do I think they ought to be in any situation where they can come at secrets-and betray a trust.— Write me as often as you can conveniently;-and believe me to be what I really am Your sincere & affecte friend. TO JAMES MCHENRY, SECRETARY OF WAR. MY DEAR SIR, [PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL.] MOUNT VERNON, 10 August, 1798. You will consider this letter as private and confidential, dictated by friendship, and flowing from the best intentions. If then anything should be found therein, |