From George Washington to Richard Peters, 16 May 1793
To Richard Peters
[Philadelphia] May 16th 1793
Dear Sir,
Mr Young informs me, by a letter which I have lately received from him, that the accounts, relative to the state of agriculture, which I had collected from various quarters and transmitted to him last fall, have set him afloat on the High Seas of conjecture with respect to the Agriculture of this Country. The account which you had the goodness to prepare for me was among the number of those sent to Mr Young;1 And, as you had a hand in setting him afloat, it is but fair that you should lend your assistance to get him Landed2 again. I have therefore, my dear Sir, taken the liberty to send you the enclosed extracts from Mr Young’s letter, and must beg you to have the goodness, when convenient, to give such answers to the queries—& make such observations thereon as your knowledge of the subject may enable you to do.3 This is a common Cause—and I shall therefore make no apology for troubling you with it4—The War he says, has prevented his taking a trip to this country that he might form from his own observation, an opinion of what is, and what might be done here in the Agricultural line.5 I am—Dr Sir Yr Obedt Servt.
Df, in the writing of Tobias Lear and GW, ViMtvL; LB, DLC:GW. GW sent a similar letter to Thomas Jefferson on 13 May.
1. GW’s letters to Young of 20 Oct. and 2 Dec. did not contain the agricultural accounts mentioned. His letter to Young of 18–21 June 1792 and its enclosures led to the questions in Young’s letter to GW of 17 Jan. 1793.
2. Lear wrote “on shore” on the draft, but GW struck these words and inserted “Landed” above the line.
3. See Peters to GW, 17 May, and note 1.
4. The remainder of the draft is in GW’s writing.
5. France, already at war with Austria and Prussia, declared war on Great Britain and the Netherlands on 1 February.