1. GW enclosed Martha Washington’s letter to Trumbull of 12 Jan., which reads: “From the hands of Mr Anthoney, I received a proof Print engraved from the whole length Portrait of the President. I recei⟨ve⟩d it, Sir, as a mark of your esteem and polite attention, and shall set great store by it accordingly.

“a few weeks now, will place me in the shades of mount vernon, under our own vines and fig trees; whare, with very sincere assurances I may add, we should be always extreemly happy to see you. for the numberless instances of your politeness to me, I pray you to accept my thanks; and to be perswaded of the great esteem and regard.” Martha added the following postscript: “The President has enjoined it upon me to tender you his sincear regards” (CSmH). An identically worded draft of Martha’s letter, in GW’s writing, is in DSoC.

Martha thanked Trumbull for British engraver Thomas Cheesman’s engraving of Trumbull’s 1792 full-length portrait of GW, called General George Washington at Trenton (see Baker, Engraved Portraits of Washington description begins W. S. Baker. The Engraved Portraits of Washington, with Notices of the Originals and Brief Biographical Sketches of the Painters. Philadelphia, 1880. description ends , 91). In a letter of 7 Oct. 1796, Trumbull had informed Martha that he had requested Philadelphia jeweler and silversmith Joseph Anthony, Jr., to present her with the “proof Print engraved from the whole length Portrait of the President.” Trumbull sent the engraving out of “grateful Respect” for her (DLC:GW). The Sun (London) for 14 Nov. 1796 advertised the publication of Cheesman’s engraving, on which Cheesman reportedly had been laboring for three years. The advertisement announced that the engraved portrait, which measured “18 by 26 Inches,” delineated the “Figure and Character of this very great Man.”

On 25 April 1797, Trumbull wrote Martha to thank her for her 12 Jan. letter and to express his hope that she and GW would “long enjoy in Health and Tranquillity, the delightful contemplation” of the happiness to which GW’s “Labors have so highly contributed” (ViMtvL).

2. GW also enclosed his letter of 30 Dec. 1796 to London scholar John Carey, which Trumbull forwarded to Carey by 25 April (see Trumbull’s reply to GW of 25 April 1797, in Papers, Retirement Series description begins W. W. Abbot et al., eds. The Papers of George Washington, Retirement Series. 4 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1998–99. description ends 1:121–22).