was with a determination not to intermeddle in any public matter which did not immediately concern me; and that I have felt no Disposition since to alter this Determination.

But as you have requested that I would give you my Ideas on a certain point, which seems to have occupied the attention of the Board of Commissioners, and on which I presume my Letters to that Body (whilst I had the honor to administer the Government) have not been so clear and explicit as it was my Intention to be, I have no hesitation in declaring (unless I have entirely forgotten all recollection of the fact) that it has always been my invariable opinion, and remains still to be so, that no departure from the Engraved plan of the City ought to be allowed, unless imperious necessity should require it, or some great public good is to be promoted thereby.

Minor Considerations contribute to this opinion; but the primary, and to my mind an unanswerable one, is, that after the original plan (with some Alterations) had been adopted; ordered to be engraved and published; and was transmitted to several, if not to all our public Agents abroad, for the purpose of inviting purchasers; that it would, for reasons too obvious and cogent to require illustration, be deceptious to lay off Lots for private purposes, where none appeared in a plan, which was intended to inform, aid, and direct the Judgment of Foreigners, and others, who could not, on the premises, make a choice. It is not difficult to form an opinion of the ways of thinking, and views of others, by ones own, under similar Circumstances; I shall declare then without reserve, that if I had made choice of a Site for a House on an open Area in the published map, occasioned by the intersection of Avenues, and an Angle thereof should afterwards be filled up, in a manner I might not approve, I should not scruple to complain of both the deception and injury.

1799]

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219

But I am straying from my purpose, which was no more than simply to say (if I am not, as beforementioned, greatly forgetful) that I have never had but one opinion on this Subject, and that is, that nothing ought to justify a Departure from the engraved plan, but the probability of some great public Benefit, or unavoidable necessity. With great esteem etc.

*To MAJOR GENERAL

CHARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY

[C.L.]

Mount Vernon, June 5, 1799.

My dear Sir: Your favor of the 20th Ulto. from Mulberry Grove, came duly to hand, and would have received an earlier acknowledgment had I not allowed time for the completion of your visit to the Frontier Posts, in the State of Georgia.

I thank you for the interesting details you took the trouble of communicating in that letter, and its enclosures; but it was not, nor is it, my wish to inflict such burthensome Communications upon you. To give me a general view of the state of Military matters, and of the temper of our Neighbours on your orders; and the arrangement of the Southern Corps and prospect of filling them; Of the disposition of the Troops, and general Politicks of the three Southern (Atlantic) States, and of Tennessee (as far as you could ascertain them), is all I had in view by the request contained in my former letter; and all I mean to ask of you at present.

I am fully persuaded, my dear Sir, that your own judgment and experience in Military matters would be but little assisted by any advice that is in my power to give you; I feel, nevertheless, the compliment which your asking of it conveys.

"From a copy in Thornton's writing.

Your letter to Captn. Presley Thornton I delivered with my own hands. He is grateful for the honor you have conferred, and will himself (as I presume he has, or will inform you, by letter) of his readiness to obey your Orders at any time, or in any manner, you may find it expedient to communicate them to him. You will, I trust, find him an honorable man; none was ever more so than his father; and those who are better acquainted with his conduct than I am, say, the son inherits the fathers virtues.

Of those matters which you have communicated to the Secretary of War, I shall say nothing. It rests with him to decide on them; to do which, you have furnished him with clear and ample details, as appears by the copies thereof sent me.

Mrs. Washington is thankful to you for the Melon seeds you had the kindness to send her, and unites with me in best wishes for you, Mrs. Pinckney and the young ladies; and with sincere esteem etc.

*To CLEMENT BIDDLE

Mount Vernon, June 6, 1799. Dear Sir: Your letters of the 18th and 21st. Ulto. have been duly received.

In reply to them, so far as it respects the raking machines, I agree perfectly with Mr. I: Williams, that they will not answr. on Stoney, stumpy, or rough land of any kind, for the reason he has assigned; but I am equally well persuaded, that on level and smooth land (which for the most part my fields are) they would be found useful impliments on a Farm. If then, the Inventor and maker of them has removed from Philadelphia, and Mr. Williams, or any other Gentleman who has suffered the one he possesses, to be dis-used; will part with it; and it is susceptible of complete repairs; I would buy it; provided I

1799]

CAPTAINS AND SUBALTERN

221

could have it (in the usual course of passages) at this place by the 10th of next month; without which it would render me no service this, and might be unnecessary another year..

Having what little flour I made still on hand; Perceiving by the Gazettes, and an Arrette of Roume and Touissant that the Trade to St. Domingo is encouraged; and that Dispatches have been received from Mr. Stevens our Consul; permit me to ask what effect this event has had, or is likely to have, on the price of that article. Two motives lead to the enquiry, at the present moment; first, the approaching heats will render it ineligable to keep flour on hand much if any longer; and secondly, because the Merchants in this quarter either do, or affect to, believe, that the Ports of that Island will not be opened, or that we shall derive no benefit from the above mentioned Arrette. I will decide nothing untill I hear from you. with great

esteem etc.

64

To JOHN CROPPER 65

Mount Vernon, June 6, 1799.

66

Sir: The Secretary of War has signified to me..."" As it is desireable that this selection, particularly of the Captains and Subalterns, should be made from different parts of the State, observing, as far as may be, a due proportion to the respective population. And as my absence from home for almost twenty years, with short intervals only, has deprived me of the opportunity of obtaining a personal knowledge of the Citizens of this State, in the different and distant parts of it, and particularly of the rising generation, I must resort, for

From a photostat obtained through the kindness of Samuel M. Wilson, of Lexington, Ky., from the original owned by Mrs. A. J. A. Alexander, of Spring Station, Woodford County, Ky.

06

He had been a lieutenant colonel in the Virginia line in the Continental Army. The part here omitted is identical with the second paragraph in Washington's letter to John Cropper, June 17, 1799, q. v.