From George Washington to Tobias Lear, 31 March 1799
To Tobias Lear
MOUNT VERNON 31st. March 1799.
Dear Sir,
If perchance you should happen to see Mr. Blagden before you leave the City, be so good as to get from him a statement of the preparations for my buildings therein. I do not find by inquiry of Mr. Lewis, that there is much show of this on the ground!1 I advised strongly that the foundation stone and lime, should be laid in last Autumn, when the Roads were good;—had this been done the Work might have commenced (without the hazard of disappointment) with the opening of Spring. Now, bad Roads, & multiplied excuses may be a plea for the backwardness of the Work.
I pray you also to enquire if there be any advice of the arrival of the Ship Hamilton (on board of which I had six Hhds. of Tobo.) at London.2 We all unite in best wishes for you—and I am Your Affecte friend
Do not forget my Gardener’s Dictionary at Mr. Laws.3
, 128.
1. See GW to Lear, 26 Mar., n.3.
2. For the tobacco that GW sent to London on consignment, see Thomas Peter to GW, 3 Sept. 1798, and the references in note 2 to that document.
3. GW may be referring to Philip Miller’s Abridgement of the Gardener’s Dictionary (London, 1763), which was listed in the inventory of his library taken after his death.