SIR, TO COUNT DE FLORIDA BLANCA. Mount Vernon, 19 December, 1785. My homage is due to his Catholic Majesty for the honor of his present. The value of it is intrinsically great; but it is rendered inestimable by the manner, and the hand it is derived from. Let me entreat you, therefore, Sir, to lay before the King my thanks for the jackasses, with which he has been graciously pleased to compliment me; and to assure his Majesty of my unbounded gratitude for this instance of his royal notice and favor. That long life, perfect health, and unfading glory may attend his Majesty's reign, is my fervent wish. With great respect and consideration, I have the honor to be, &c.* TO BENJAMIN LINCOLN. MY DEAR SIR, Mount Vernon, 6 February, 1786. Your favor of the 4th of January never reached me till yesterday, or the receipt of it should have had an earlier acknowledgment. Let me, in the first place, * The King of Spain, hearing that General Washington was endeavouring to procure in Europe jackasses of the best breed, for the purpose of rearing mules on his estates, made him a present of two, and sent over a person with one of them, who was acquainted with the habits of those animals and the mode of treating them, and who arrived at Portsmouth in New Hampshire, and proceeded thence with his charge by land to Mount Vernon. Count de Florida Blanca was the prime minister of Spain. In a complimentary answer to the above letter he said; "It will give pleasure to his Majesty, that opportunities of a higher nature may offer to prove the great esteem he entertains for your Excellency's personal merit, singular virtues, and character."-St. Ildefonso, September 1st, 1786. thank you for your kind attention to my inquiries; and in the next, pray you to know precisely from Mr. Lear upon what terms he would come to me. I am not inclined to leave matters of this kind to after discussion or misconception. Whatever agreement is previously made shall be pointedly fulfilled on my part, which will prevent every cause of complaint on his. Mr. Lear, or any other who may come into my family in the blended characters of preceptor to the children, and clerk or private secretary to me, will sit at my table, will live as I live, will mix with the company who resort to the house, and will be treated in every respect with civility and proper attention. He will have his washing done in the family, and may have his linen and stockings mended by the maids of it. The duties, which will be required of him, are generally such as appertain to the offices above mentioned. The first will be very trifling, till the children are a little more advanced; and the other will be equally so, as my correspondences decline (which I am endeavouring to effect), and after my accounts and other old matters are brought up. To descend more minutely into his duties I am unable, because occasional matters may call for particular services; but nothing derogatory will be asked or expected. After this explanation of my wants, I request that Mr. Lear will mention the annual sum he will expect for these services, and I will give him a decided answer by the return of the stages, which now carry the mail and travel quickly. A good hand, as well as proper diction, would be a recommendation on account of fair entries, and for the benefit of the children who will have to copy after it.* An arrangement was made satisfactory to both parties; and Mr. Lear, a young gentleman from Portsmouth in New Hampshire, who had recently graduated at Harvard University, went to Mount Vernon The discovery of extracting fresh water from salt, by a simple process and without the aid of fire, will be of amazing importance to the sons of Neptune, if it is not vitiated or rendered nauseous by the operation, and can be made to answer all the valuable purposes of other fresh water at sea. Every maritime power in the world in this case ought, in my opinion, to offer some acknowledgment to the inventor.* With every sentiment of regard and friendship, I am, dear Sir, &c. SIR, TO WILLIAM DRAYTON. Mount Vernon, 25 March, 1786. I feel very sensibly the honor conferred on me, by the "South Carolina Society for promoting and improving Agriculture and other Rural Concerns," by unanimously electing me the first honorary member of that body; and I pray you, Sir, as chairman, to offer my best acknowledgments and thanks for this mark of its attention. To you for the flattering terms in which the desires of the Society have been communicated, my thanks are particularly due.† and became General Washington's secretary. He was recommended in strong terms by General Lincoln, President Willard, and other gentlemen of distinction, who were acquainted with his character. An intimacy commenced between General Washington and Mr. Lear, which continued through the life of the former. * The invention proved less valuable than had been anticipated. It had been described by General Lincoln as holding out a fair prospect of success, but he afterwards wrote; "It is now said little may be expected from the supposed invention for extracting fresh water from salt." In communicating to General Washington the above intelligence, Mr. Drayton added; "This mark of their respect, the Society thought, was with peculiar propriety due to the man, who, by his gallantry and It is much to be wished, that every State in the Union would establish a society similar to this; and that these societies would correspond with each other, and fully and regularly impart the result of the experiments actually made in husbandry, together with such other useful discoveries as have stood, or are likely to stand, the test of investigation. Nothing, in my opinion, would contribute more to the welfare of these States, than the proper management of lands; and nothing, in this State particularly, seems to be less understood. The present mode of cropping practised among us is destructive to landed property, and must, if persisted in much longer, ultimately ruin the holders of it. I have the honor to be, &c. TO HENRY LEE, IN CONGRESS.* MY DEAR SIR, * Mount Vernon, 5 April, 1786. My sentiments with respect to the federal government are well known. Publicly and privately have they been communicated without reserve; but my opinion is, that there is more wickedness than ignorance in the conduct of the States, or, in other words, in the conduct of those who have too much influence in the government of them; and until the curtain is withdrawn, and the private views and selfish principles, upon which these men act, are exposed to public notice, conduct as a soldier, contributed so eminently to stamp a value on the labors of every American farmer; and who, by his skill and industry in the cultivation of his fields, has likewise distinguished himself as a farmer." - Charleston, November 23d, 1785. Formerly Colonel Henry Lee of the army, and now a delegate in Congress from Virginia. I have little hope of amendment without another convulsion. The picture of our affairs as drawn by the committee, approved by Congress, and presented to the public, did not at all surprise me.* Before that report, though I could not go into the minutiae of matters, I was more certain of the aggregate of our† than I am now of the remedy, which will be applied. Without the latter, I do not see upon what ground your agent at the court of Morocco, and the other at Algiers, are to treat, unless, having to do with new hands, they mean to touch the old strings, and make them dance awhile to the tune of promises. I thank you for the pamphlet, which contains the correspondence between Mr. Jay and Mr. Littlepage, and shall be obliged to you for a gazette containing the publication of the letter, which appears to have given rise to them. I am, &c. TO BENJAMIN LINCOLN. MY DEAR SIR, Mount Vernon, 10 April, 1786. The violent rains and consequent freshets have given such interruption to the stages in this part of the world, that your favor of the 15th ultimo did not reach my hands till Saturday last. I accede to the pecuniary allowance of two hundred dollars per annum required "Our * See Journals of Congress, February 3d, 7th, and 15th, 1786. federal distresses,” said Mr. Lee, “gather fast to a point. New Jersey has refused the requisition, and will not grant a shilling till New York accedes to the impost. Perhaps this intemperance in Jersey may bring this State to acquiesce in a system of finance long ago approved by ten States, and whose operation might have saved the difficulties, which impend over the Union."- New York, March 2d. † Blank in the original. VOL. IX. N |