d) To TIMOTHY PICKERING, August, 29, 1797.
“Candor is not a more conspicuous trait in the character of Governments than it is of individuals.”
e) To JAMES MADISON, November 30, 1785.
“It is an old adage, that honesty is the best policy. This applies to public as well as private life, to States as well as individuals.”
f) To RICHARD WASHINGTON, April 15, 1757.
“What can be so proper as the truth?”
3. Clothing
a) To BUSHROD WASHINGTON, Newburgh, January 15, 1783. “Do not conceive that fine Clothes make fine Men, any more than fine feathers make fine Birds. A plain genteel dress is more admired and obtains more credit than lace and embroidery in the Eyes of the judicious and sensible.”
b) To JAMES MCHENRY, Mount Vernon, January 27, 1799.
“On reconsidering the uniform for the Commander-in-Chief . . . as it respects myself personally, I was against all embroidery.” (emphasis in the orginal)
4. Color
a) To ROBERT CARY, & CO., June 6, 1768.
“Green being a color little apt . . . to fade, and grateful to the eye, I would give it the preference.”
5. Despising
a) To THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS, Valley Forge, January 2, 1778.
“If General Conway means, by cool receptions mentioned in the last paragraph of his Letter of the 31st Ulto., that I did not receive him in the language of a warm and cordial Friend, I readily confess the charge. I did not, nor shall I ever, till I am capable of the arts of dissimulation. These I despise, and my feelings will not permit me to make professions of friendship to the man I deem my Enemy, and whose system of conduct forbids it.”
6. Difficulties
a) To JOHN AUGUSTINE WASHINGTON, White Plains, November 6, 1776. “I am wearied almost to death with the retrograde Motions of things, and I solemnly protest that a pecuniary reward of 20,000£ a year would not induce me to undergo what I do; and after all, perhaps, to loose my Character as it is impossible under such a variety of distressing Circumstances to conduct matters agreeably to public expectation, or even of those who employ me, as they will not make proper allowances for the difficulties their own errors have occasioned.”
7. Emotions
a) THE FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS [April 30, 1789.]
“In this conflict of emotions, all I dare aver, is, that it has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a just appreciation of every circumstance, by which it might be affected.…it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official Act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the Universe, who presides in the Councils of Nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the People of the United States, a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes: and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success, the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own; nor those of my fellow-citizens at large, less than either. No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency. And in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their United Government, the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities, from which the event has resulted, cannot be compared with the means by which most Governments have been established, without some return of pious gratitude along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage. These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with me I trust in thinking, that there are none under the influence of which, the proceedings of a new and free Government can more auspiciously commence....
“I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my Country can inspire: since 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)
8. Enmity
a) To JOHN JAY, Head Quarters, Middle brook, April 14, 1779.
“Conscious that it is the aim of my actions to promote the public good, and that no part of my conduct is influenced by personal enmity to individuals, I cannot be insensible to the artifices employed by some men to prejudice me in the public esteem.”
9. Excellence
a) To WILLIAM PEARCE, Philadelphia, March 22, 1795.
“I had rather hear it was delayed than that it should be sown before every thing was in perfect order for it; for it is a fixed principle with me, that whatever is done should be well done. Unless this maxim is attended to, our labor is but in vain, and our expectation of a return, is always deceptious; whilst we are ascribing our disappointments to any thing rather than the true cause, namely not laying (by proper preparations) a good foundation, on which to build our hopes.” (emphasis in the orginal)
10. Mixed Emotions
a) To THE CITIZENS OF NEW BRUNSWICK, New Brunswick, December 6, 1783.
“I cannot bid adieu to the Acquaintances and Connections I have formed while acting in a public character without experiencing a certain pleasing, melancholly sensation, pleasing because I leave my Country in the full possession of Liberty and Independence; Melancholly because I bid my friends a long, perhaps a last farewell.”
11. Moods
a) To REVEREND BOUCHER, May 21, 1772.
“Inclination having yielded to Importunity, I am now contrary to all expectation under the hands of Mr. [Charles Willson] Peale; but in so grave—so sullen a mood—and now and then under the influence of Morpheus, when some critical strokes are making, that I fancy the skill of this Gentleman’s pencil, will be put to it, in describing to the World what manner of man I am.”
12. Mount Vernon
a) To ARCHIBALD CARY, H.W., Newburgh, June 15, 1782.
“I pant for retirement, and am persuaded that an end of our warfare is not to be obtained but by vigorous exertions. . . I can truly say, that the first wish of my Soul is to return speedily into the bosom of that country, which gave me birth, and, in the sweet enjoyment of domestic happiness and the company of a few friends, to end my days in quiet, when I shall be called from this stage.”
b) To LAFAYETTE, February 1, 1784
“At length, my dear marquis, I am become a private citizen on the banks of the Potomac, and under the shadow of my own vine and my own fig-tree, free from the bustle of a camp and the busy scenes of public life, I am solacing myself with those tranquil enjoyments of which the soldier who is ever in pursuit of fame, the statesman whose watchful days and sleepless nights are spent in devising schemes to promote the welfare of his own, perhaps the ruin of other countries, as if the globe was insufficient for us all, and the Courtier who is always watching the countenance of his Prince, in hopes of catching a gracious smile, can have very little conception. I have not only retired from all public employments, but I am retiring within myself, and shall be able to view the solitary walk of private life with heartfelt satisfaction. Envious of none, I am determined to be pleased with all; and this, my dear friend, being the order of my march, I will move gently down the stream of life until I sleep with my fathers.”
13. Pain
a) To GOVERNOR HENRY LEE, Philadelphia, May 6, 1793.
“It gives me inexpressible pain to receive such frequent, and distressing accounts from the Western frontiers of this Union (occasioned by Indian hostilities); more especially as our hands are tied to defensive measures….”
14. Quality
a) To P. MARSTELLER, December 15, 1786.
“It is not the lowest priced goods that are always the cheapest—the quality is, or ought to be as much an object with the purchaser, as the price”
15. Retirement
a) To ARCHIBALD CARY, H.W., Newburgh, June 15, 1782.
“I pant for retirement, and am persuaded that an end of our warfare is not to be obtained but by vigorous exertions. . . I can truly say, that the first wish of my Soul is to return speedily into the bosom of that country, which gave me birth, and, in the sweet enjoyment of domestic happiness and the company of a few friends, to end my days in quiet, when I shall be called from this stage.”
b) To ROBERT STEWART, New York August 10, 1783.
“I only wait (and with anxious impatience) the arrival of the definitive treaty, that I may take leave of my Military Employments and by bidding adieu to Public life, forever enjoy in the shades of retirement that ease and tranquility to which, for more than eight years, I have been an entire stranger, and for which, a mind which has been constantly on the stretch during that period, and perplexed with a thousand embarrassing circumstances, often times without a ray of light to guide it, stands much in need.”
