Washington in Domestic Life. From Original Letters and ManuscriptsRush, Richard
History
Washington in Domestic Life. From Original Letters and Manuscripts
Rush, Richard
Washington, George, 1732-1799
Fredericksburg, Virginia, June 12, 1791. He informs Mr. Lear that he had
reached this place the day preceding, and expected to get back to Mount
Vernon the day following. He would remain there until the 27th, which
was the day appointed for him to meet the commissioners at Georgetown to
fix on the spot for the public buildings to be erected in the new
Federal City, and writes to give Mr. Lear this foreknowledge of his
movements.
Mount Vernon, June 15, 1791. The early part of this letter relates to
certain blank commissions signed and left with Mr. Lear to be filled up
under the direction and advice of the Secretary of the Treasury. He next
adverts to a vacancy in one of the United States judgeships--that of the
district of Pennsylvania--by the death of the late incumbent. Some have
applied, he says, for the appointment, and others will. In reference to
this and other offices that will be vacant (naming them), he wishes Mr.
Lear to get the best information he can as to those who it is thought
would fill them "with the greatest ability and integrity." Several
meritorious persons, he adds, have already been brought to his view.
He is glad to hear that the affairs of his household in Philadelphia go
on so well, and tells Mr. Lear it might not be improper for him to hint
how foolish it would be in the servants left there to enter into any
combinations for supplanting those in authority [meaning the upper
servants]. The attempt would be futile, and must recoil upon themselves;
and next, admitting that they were to make the lives of the present
steward and housekeeper so uneasy as to induce them to quit, others
would be got, and such, too, as would be equally if not more rigid in
exacting the duty required of the servants below them; the steward and
housekeeper were indispensably necessary in taking trouble off of Mrs.
Washington's hands and his own, and would be supported in the line of
their duty, whilst any attempt to counteract them would be considered as
the strongest evidence the other servants could give of their
unworthiness. A good and faithful servant, he adds, was never afraid of
having his conduct looked into, but the reverse.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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