1From George Washington to Henry Knox, 19 August 1787 (Washington Papers)
By slow, I wish I could add & sure, movements, the business of the Convention progresses; but to say when it will end, or what will be the result, is more than I can venture to do; and therefore shall hazard no opinion thereon. If however, some good does not proceed from the Session, the defects cannot, with propriety, be charged to the hurry with which the business has been conducted: yet...
2From George Washington to Henry Knox, 27 April 1787 (Washington Papers)
Hurried as I am I cannot (not expecting to see you in Philadelpa) withhold the copy of a Paragraph in a letter which came to my hands yesterday from Mr Jefferson, and a translation of the article “Cincinnati” from the Encyclopedie Methodique; forwarded to me by the same Gentleman as they relate to the Society & serve to shew the light in wch it is viewed in France. I do not know what the...
3From George Washington to Henry Knox, 31 May 1787 (Washington Papers)
It gave me great pleasure to find by your letter of the 29th that you were freed from all apprehension on acct of Miss Lucys eye—and that we might flatter ourselves with the expectation of seeing Mrs Knox & you at this place. It was not untill Friday last that Seven States assembled in Convention. By these I was, much against my wish, unanimously placed in the Chair—Ten States are now...
4From George Washington to Henry Knox, 25 February 1787 (Washington Papers)
Accept, my dear General Knox my affectionate thanks for your obliging favors of the 29th, 30th, & 31st of Jany and 1st 8th & 12th of the present month. They were indeed, exceedingly satisfactory, and relieving to my mind which has been filled with great & anxious uneasiness for the issue of General Lincoln’s operations, and the dignity of Government. On the prospect of the happy termination of...
5From George Washington to Henry Knox, 15 October 1787 (Washington Papers)
Your favor of the 3d instt came duly to hand. The fourth day after leaving Phila. I arrived at home, and found Mrs Washington and the family tolerably well, but the fruits of the Earth almost entirely destroyed by one of the severest droughts (in this neighbourhood) that ever was experienced. The Crops generally, below the Mountains are injured; but not to the degree that mine, & some of my...
6From George Washington to Henry Knox, 8 March 1787 (Washington Papers)
Will you permit me to give you the trouble of making an indirect, but precise enquiry, into the alligations of the enclosed letters. I flatter myself that from the vicinity of Elizabeth Town to New York, and the constant intercourse between the two, you will be able to do it without much trouble. It is but little in my power to afford the pecuniary aids required by the letter writer; but if...
7From George Washington to Henry Knox, 2 April 1787 (Washington Papers)
The early attention which you were so obliging as to pay to my letter of the 8th ulto is highly pleasing and flattering to me. Were you to continue to give me information on the same point, you would add to the favor; as I see, or think I see, reasons for and against my attendance in Convention so near an equilibrium, as will cause me to Determine upon either, with diffidence. One of the...
8From George Washington to Henry Knox, 3 February 1787 (Washington Papers)
I feel my self exceedingly obliged to you for the full, & friendly communications in your letters of the 14th 21st & 25th ult.; and shall (critically as matters are described in the latter) be extremely anxious to know the issue of the movements of the forces that were assembling, the one to support, the other to oppose the constitutional rights of Massachusetts. The moment is, indeed,...
9From George Washington to Henry Knox, 27 April 1787 (Washington Papers)
After every consideration my judgment was able to give the subject, I had determined to yield to the wishes of many of my friends who seemed extremely anxious for my attending the Convention, which is proposed to be holden in Philadelphia the second Monday of May. And tho’ so much afflicted with a rheumatic complaint (of which I have not been entirely free for Six months) as to be under the...