1From George Washington to Elizabeth Parke Custis, 14 September 1794 (Washington Papers)
Shall I, in answer to your letter of the 7th instant say—when you are as near the Pinnacle of happiness as your sister Patcy conceives herself to be; or when your candour shines more conspicuously than it does in that letter, that I will then , comply with the request you have made, for my Picture? NO—I will grant it without either: for if the latter was to be a preliminary, it would be...