To George Washington from Joseph Mandrillon, 15 June 1789
From Joseph Mandrillon
Amsterdam 15th June 1789
My General,
The uncertainty which I am in whether my letters get safe to your hands or not,1 has determined me to embrace the opportunity which offers by Mr Theophilus Cazeneau a distinguished Citizen of this City,2 to confirm to you, my General, the transmission which I have had the honor to make to you of my Fragments of political literature in which I have presumed to place some of your virtues. I pray your Excellency to accept it as a mark of my respect.3
After the praises with which the Americans have made their cities to re-echo—After the reiterated thanks which they have given to the Supreme Being for the benifits which have been heaped upon them by the virtues of your Excellency—After the Universal Sanction which has been given to your name & brilliant qualities, it only remains for me to put up vows for your preservation, and for the continued prosperity of America—to which it would have been a grateful thing for me to have been Allied to her by my birth: but since my connexions are only those of sentime⟨nt⟩ they shall be coeval with my existance.
In my last, I perhaps, committed an indescretion in signifying to your Excellency the ardent desire which I had to possess your portrait: But, my General, if you will deign to judge of me by the motive—you will pardon I hope, & grant my prayer. In this flattering expectation I have the honor to be, with veneration, Yr very Hble & Obedt Sert4
Jh Mandrillon
Translation, DNA:PCC, item 78; ALS, in French, DNA:PCC, item 78. The text has been taken from a translation prepared for GW.
1. For GW’s most recent correspondence with Mandrillon, see Mandrillon’s letters of 25 Oct. 1788 and 4 June 1789, and GW’s letter to him, 27 Nov. 1788, mentioned in GW to Chastellux, n.3.
2. Théophile Cazenove (1740–1811), an Amsterdam broker, formed an association in 1785 with Etienne Clavière, a Swiss banker in Paris, and the Amsterdam banker Pieter Stadnitski to purchase portions of the American Revolutionary debt to France. Although this project failed, Cazenove was commissioned an agent for Stadnitski and a number of other Dutch bankers to come to the United States and engage in a series of speculations in land and securities. In 1792 he became the agent for the six Dutch banking houses that banded together in 1796 to become the Holland Land Company. Cazenove did not arrive in America until March 1790. For the debate over the letters he carried, see , 6:49.
3. Mandrillon sent GW a copy of this work on 24 May 1789. See also Mandrillon to GW, 25 Oct. 1788, n.1. The work contained a “Portrait du Général Washington,” extracted from the American Spectator, and reprinted his letter to the Society of the Cincinnati, 15 May 1784.
4. The original of this letter reads: “L’incertitude où je Suis que mes lettres parviennent exactement à Votre Excellence, me détermine à profiter de l’occasion de Mr Théophile Cazenove, citoyen distingué de cette ville, pour vous confirmer mon Général, l’envoi que j’ai eu l’honneur de vous faire d’un exemplaire de mes Fragmens de politique et de Litterature; dans lesquels Je me Suis fait une fête de placer quelques unes de Vos Vertus. Je prie Votre Excellence de l’agréer comme un hommage de mon respect.
“Aprés les louanges dont les Americains font retentir leurs villes après ce concert unanime d’actions de graces qu’ils rendent a l’être Suprême pour le remercier; des bènédictions dont il les a comblés par les vertus de Votre Excellence, Aprés cette Sanction universelle rendue à vos qualités rares et brillantes, il ne me reste plus qu’à faire des voeux pour votre conservation, et pour la longue prospérité de l’Amérique, à la quelle il m’eut été bien doux d’appartenir par la naissance: mais puisque mes liens ne tiennent qu’au Sentiment, ils dureront autant que mon existence.
Dans ma derniere, j’ai commis peutêtre une indiscretion en témoignant à Votre Excellence le desir ardent que j’avois de posseder Son portrait: mais, Mon Général, Si vous daignez me juger Sur le motif, vous me pardonnerez j’espere et vous exaucerez ma priere: dans cette flateuse espérance J’ai lhonneur d’être avec vènération Mon General Votre très humble & très obéissant Serviteur.”