DEAR SIR,

TO BENJAMIN LINCOLN.

New York, 20 August, 1789.

I informed you on the 11th instant, that a bill was before the House to provide for the expenses that might attend the treaties and negotiations to be made with the Indian tribes, and for the appointment of commissioners to be employed in the same.

This bill has to-day passed into a law, and in consequence thereof I have nominated, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, have appointed you one of the three commissioners to be employed in negotiating a treaty with the southern Indians. Should you accept of this appointment, it will be absolutely necessary for you to set off for this place immediately on the receipt of this letter; for, as I mentioned in my last, the treaty is to be held in Georgia at the Rock Landing on the Ogechee River, the 15th of September, and the commissioners must leave this place on or before the 1st day of September in order to be upon the spot on the day appointed. The propriety of this punctuality will be obvious upon a consideration of the great expense, which will be incurred by detaining so large a body of Indians, as will probably attend this treaty, longer than is necessary to transact the business of the treaty. A vessel will be provided here to carry the commissioners, and every thing requisite in the business, to Georgia. The other commissioners are not yet appointed; but they will undoubtedly be such characters, as will comport with the respectability and importance of the commission. If you have a suit of regimentals, it may be well to take them with you.

Eight o'clock, P. M. I have this moment received

your letter of the 16th instant, and am happy to find, that the business of your office is in so favorable a train as you mention, and that you can leave it for a few months without inconvenience, and come on immediately. I am, my dear Sir, yours, &c.

DEAR SIR,

TO JAMES CRAIK.

New York, 8 September, 1789.

The letter, with which you favored me on the 24th ultimo came duly to hand, and for the friendly sentiments contained in it you have my sincere and hearty thanks.

My disorder was of long and painful continuance, and, though now freed from pain, the wound given by the incision is not yet closed. Persuaded as I am, that the case has been treated with skill, and with as much tenderness as the nature of the complaint would admit, yet I confess I often wished for your inspection of it. During the paroxysm, the distance rendered this impracticable, and after the paroxysm had passed, I had no conception of being confined to a lying posture on one side six weeks, and that I should feel the remains of it more than twelve. The part affected is now reduced to the size of a barleycorn, and by Saturday next, which will complete the thirteenth week, I expect it will be skinned over. Upon the whole, I have more reason to be thankful, that it is no worse, than to repine at the confine

ment.

* The collectorship of the port of Boston, to which General Lincoln had been appointed. The three commissioners appointed to make a treaty with the southern Indians were Benjamin Lincoln, Cyrus Griffin, and David Humphreys.

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The want of regular exercise, with the cares of office, will, I have no doubt, hasten my departure for that country from whence no traveller returns; but a faithful discharge of whatsoever trust I accept, as it ever has been, so it always will be, the primary consideration in every transaction of my life, be the consequences what they may. Mrs. Washington has, I think, better health than usual, and the children are well and in the way of improvement.

I always expected, that the gentleman, whose name you have mentioned, would mark his opposition to the new government with consistency. Pride on the one hand, and want of manly candor on the other, will not, I am certain, let him acknowledge an error in his opinions respecting it, though conviction should flash on his mind as strongly as a ray of light. If certain characters, whom you have also mentioned, should tread blindfold in his steps, it would be matter of no wonder to me. They are in the habit of thinking that every thing he says and does is right, and (if capable) they will not judge for themselves.

It gives me pleasure to hear, and I wish you to express it to them, that my nephews George and Lawrence Washington are attentive to their studies, and obedient to your orders and admonition. Those kinds of learning, which are to fit them for the most useful and necessary purposes of life, among which writing well, arithmetic, and the less abstruse branches of mathematics are certainly to be comprehended, ought to be particularly attended to, and it is my earnest wish that it should be so.

The gazettes are so full of the occurrences of a public, and indeed of a private nature, which happen in this place, that it is unnecessary, if I had more leisure than falls to my lot, to attempt a repetition.

I shall therefore refer you to them, or to the Alexandria paper, through which they may, if pains are taken, be circulated. Mrs. Washington and the rest of the family join me in every good and friendly wish for Mrs. Craik, yourself, and the rest of your family; and, with sentiments of sincere regard and friendship, I am, dear Sir, &c.

Colonel Ball's letter gave me the first account of my mother's death. Since that I have received Mrs. Carter's letter, written at your request, and previous to both I was prepared for the event by some advices of her illness communicated to your son Robert.

Awful and affecting as the death of a parent is, there is consolation in knowing, that Heaven has spared ours to an age beyond which few attain, and favored her with the full enjoyment of her mental faculties, and as much bodily strength as usually falls to the lot of fourscore. Under these considerations, and a hope that she is translated to a happier place, it is the duty of her relatives to yield due submission to the decrees of the Creator. When I was last at Fredericksburg, I took a final leave of my mother, never expecting to see her more.

It will be impossible for me at this distance, and circumstanced as I am, to give the smallest attention

* Only sister to General Washington, and married to Mr. Fielding Lewis of Fredericksburg in Virginia.

Mary Washington died at Fredericksburg, August 25th, 1789, in the eighty-third year of her age. She had been a widow forty-six years. General Washington's father died on the 12th of April, 1743.

the Ball amphlet

to the execution of her will; nor indeed is much required, if, as she directs, no security should be given, or appraisement made of her estate; but that the same should be allotted to the devisees with as little trouble and delay as may be. How far this is legal, I know not. Mr. Mercer can, and I have no doubt would, readily advise you if asked, which I wish you to do. If the ceremony of inventorying, appraising, &c. can be dispensed with, all the rest, as the will declares that few or no debts are owing, can be done with very little trouble. Every person may in that case immediately receive what is specifically devised.

Were it not, that the specific legacies, which are given to me by the will, are meant and ought to be considered and received as mementos of parental affection, in the last solemn act of life, I should not be desirous of receiving or removing them; but in this point of view I set a value on them much beyond their intrinsic worth.

Give my love to Mrs. Carter, and thank her for the letter she wrote to me. I would have done this myself, had I more time for private correspondences. Mrs. Washington joins in best wishes for her, yourself, and all other friends; and I am, with the most sincere regard, your affectionate brother.

TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

DEAR SIR,

New York, 23 September, 1789.

The affectionate congratulations on the recovery of my health, and the warm expressions of personal friendship, which were contained in your letter of the 16th instant, claim my gratitude. And the consideration, that it was written when you were afflicted with