c) To LAFAYETTE, August 15, 1786.
“[I am] a philanthropist by character, and . . . a citizen of the great republic of humanity at large.”
d) To GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, July 28, 1791.
“I believe it is among nations as with individuals, that the party taking advantage of the distresses of another will lose infinitely more in the opinion of mankind, and in subsequent events, than he will gain by the stroke of the moment.”
19. Passion
a) To JOHN BANISTER, April 21, 1778.
“We must take the passions of men as nature has given them, and those principles as a guide, which are generally the rule of action.”
20. Reconciliation
a) To DAVID STUART, March 28, 1790.
“To constitute a dispute there must be two parties. To understand it well, both parties, and all the circumstances, must be fully heard; and, to accommodate differences, temper and mutual forbearance are requisite.”
21. Reputation
a) To BURWELL BASSETT, Philadelphia, June 19, 1775.
“I can answer but for three things, a firm belief of the justice of our Cause, close attention in the prosecution of it, and the strictest Integrity. If these cannot supply the place of Ability and Experience, the cause will suffer, and more than probable my character along with it, as reputation derives its principal support from success; but it will be remembered, I hope, that no desire or insinuation of mine, placed me in this situation. I shall not be deprived therefore of a comfort in the worst event if I retain a consciousness of having acted to the best of my judgment.”
b) To LUND WASHINGTON, Col. Morris’s, on the Heights of Harlem, September 30, 1776.
“To lose all comfort and happiness on the one hand, whilst I am fully persuaded that under such a system of management as has been adopted, I cannot have the least chance for reputation, nor those allowances made which the nature of the case requires; and to be told, on the other, that if I leave the service all will be lost, is, at the same time that I am bereft of every peaceful moment, distressing to a degree. But I will be done with the subject, with the precaution to you that it is not a fit one to be publicly known or discussed. If I fall, it may not be amiss that these circumstances be known, and declaration made in credit to the justice of my character.…I am wearied to death all day with a variety of perplexing circum stances — disturbed at the conduct of the militia, whose behavior and want of discipline has done great injury to the other troops, who never had officers, except in a few instances, worth the bread they eat.”
22. Truth
a) To THE SECRETARY OF STATE, [Philadelphia, March 3, 1797.]
“I have thought it a duty that I owed to Myself, to my Country and to Truth, now to detail the circumstances above recited; and to add my solemn declaration, that the letters herein described are a base forgery, and that I never saw or heard of them until they appeared in print.”
23. Thrift
a) To PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS, April 23, 1776.
“No person wishes more to save money to the public, than I do; and no person has aimed more at it. But there are some cases in which parsimony may be ill-laced.”
24. Virtue
a) THE FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS [April 30, 1789.]
“There is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists in the oeconomy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness, between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity: Since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained: And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.” (emphasis in the orginal)
b) To HENRY KNOX, Mount Vernon, July 16, 1798.
“But my dear Sir, as you always have found, and trust ever will find, candour a prominent trait of my character.”
c) THE FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS [April 30, 1789.]
“The foundations of our National policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality; and the pre-eminence of a free Government, be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its Citizens, and command the respect of the world. … there is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists in the oeconomy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness, between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity: Since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained: And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.” (emphasis in the orginal)
25. Wisdom
a) To BUSHROD WASHINGTON, Mount Vernon, November 10, 1787.
“If we cannot learn wisdom from experience, it is hard to say where it is to be found.”
b) To JAMES ANDERSON, July 25, 1798.
“I, believing that man was not designed by the all-wise Creator to live for himself alone, prepare for the worst that can happen.”
26. Vanity
a) To JAMES MADISON, Mount Vernon, May 20, 1792.
“…a previous declaration to retire, not only carries with it the appearance of vanity and self importance, but it may be construed into a maneuver to be invited to remain. And on the other hand, to say nothing, implies consent; or, at any rate, would leave the matter in doubt, and to decline afterwards might be deemed as bad, and uncandid.…I take the liberty at my departure from civil, as I formerly did at my military exit, to invoke a continuation of the blessings of Providence upon it; and upon all those who are the supporters of its interests, and the promoters of harmony, order and good government.”
b) To DR. JAMES CRAIK, March 25, 1784.
“I do not think vanity is a trait of my character.”
B. PERSONALITY & EMOTIONS
1. Busy / Overwhelmed
a) To JOHN WEST, Mount Vernon, January 13, 1775.
“I can solemnly declare to you, that, for a year or two past, there has been scarce a moment, that I could properly call my own. What with my own business, my present ward’s, my mother’s, which is wholly in my hands, Colonel Colvill’s, Mrs. Savage’s, Colonel Fairfax’s, Colonel Mercer’s, and the little assistance I have undertaken to give in the management of my brother Augustine’s concerns (for I have absolutely refused to qualify as an executor), together with the share I take in public affairs, I have been kept constantly engaged in writing letters, settling accounts, and negotiating one piece of business or another; by which means I have really been deprived of every kind of enjoyment, and had almost fully resolved to engage in no fresh matter, till I had entirely wound up the old.”
2. Candor
a) To HENRY KNOX, Mount Vernon, July 16, 1798.
“But my dear Sir, as you always have found, and trust ever will find, candour a prominent trait of my character.”
b) To THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, Mount Vernon, September 25, 1798.
“Let the purity of my intentions; the candour of my declarations; and a due respect for my own character, be received as an apology….But if you had been pleased, previously to the nomination, to have enquired into the train of my thoughts upon the occasion, I would have told you with the frankness and candour which I hope will ever mark my character, on what terms I would have consented to the nomination; you would then have been enabled to decide, whether they were admissible or not.”
c) To MAJOR GENERAL HORATIO GATES, Valley Forge, January 4, 1778. vol. 10.
“Thus Sir, with an openess and candour which I hope will ever characterize and mark my conduct have I complied with your request.”
