had deposited in the Bank of Alexandria, and had been directed over and over again, months before he left my Employ, and in the most pointed terms, to pay every farthing which was due from my Estate of his contracting as I should be unwilling to meet demands of this sort after he was gone. What, under these circumstances, cd. have induced him to leave your A/c unpaid, and still more, to refer you to Mr. Lear for payment, who had no authority from me to pay or receive money requires explanation from Mr. Pearce. To him therefore I have written, and transmitted your A/c, when the answer is recd you shall again hear from Gentlemen Your etc. PS. Had you presented this A/c sooner, sooner might the enquiry have been made and the matter have been settled. *To WILLIAM HERBERT Mount Vernon, May 8, 1798. Dear Sir: The Notes undermentioned you will please to deposit in the Bank of Alexandria; and when the contents of them are received, to carry the same to the credit of Dear Sir Your etc. 1798 Jany. 17th. Jas. Patton and Jas. Dykes Mar. 1. Jesse Simms 5. William Wilson 120 days $1600 90 Do 514.70 60 Do 1500.* 400 Bushels (*) Mr. Wilson has a demand upon me for about 400 of Salt, for the amt. of which he shall receive a Check on the Bank so soon as the precise sum is ascertained by Go: W. To GEORGE WASHINGTON PARKE CUSTIS Mount Vernon, May 10, 1798. Dear Washington: Your letter by Colonel Fitzgerald has been received, and I shall confine my reply at present, to the 1798] CUSTIS'S EXPENSES 259 query in the postscript, viz. “to whom I am to apply for money in case of need." pur This has the appearance of a very early application, when it is considered that you were provided very plentifully, it was conceived, with necessaries of all sorts when you left this (two months ago only); had £4.6. given to you by me, and £3.0.0. by Doctor Stuart, as charged in his account against me (equal to between 9 and 10 lbs. Maryland currency); had a trunk chased for you, a quarters board paid in advance, &c. Except for your washing, and books when necessary, I am at a loss to discover what has given rise to so early a question. Surely you have not conceived that indulgence in dress or other extravagances are matters that were ever contemplated by me as objects of expense; and I hope they are not so by you. As then the distance between this and Annapolis is short, and the communication (by post) easy, regular and safe, transmit the accounts of such expenses as are necessary, to me, in your letters, and a mode shall be devised for prompt and punctual payment of them. And let me exhort you, in solemn terms, to keep steadily in mind the purposes and the end for which you were sent to the seminary you are now placed at, and not disappoint the hopes which have been entertained from your going thither, by doing which you will ensure the friendship, &c. of.5 *To WILLIAM STRICKLAND Mount Vernon, May 15, 1798. Sir: Your favour of the 26th. of Novr. last, introductory of Mr. Miles Smith; I have had the pleasure to receive; but not that of seeing the Gentleman himself. I have, however, expressed in a letter to him, the gratification this would afford "From the printed text in Custis's Recollections of Washington. me, if business or inclination should induce him to visit the State of Virginia. The chief object of giving you the trouble of receiving this Address, at this time, is to introduce to your civilities my good friend and neighbour, the Revd. Bryan Fairfax; who is, though he has not taken the title, Baron of Cameron since the death of the late Lord, Robert Fairfax. Bad health, and the recommendation of Sea Air, have induced this Gentleman to make a Voyage to England, whether he will travel in it, or not, depends, I presume, upon the state of the former. but if he should visit Yorkshire, I can, from a long and intimate acquaintance with him, say that he will be found worthy of your attentions. With very great esteem, etc. *To SIR JOHN SINCLAIR Mount Vernon, May 15, 1798. Sir: The motive which I assigned in my letter of the 6th. of Novr. (a copy of which, with others, is herewith enclosed) for transmitting you a duplicate of a long, private letter of the 11th. Decemr. 1796, having encreased for my not having yet received an acknowledgment of it; and having undoubted information that the Vessel by which the duplicate was sent has been taken by a Frh. Privateer, the masters of whom pay little respect to private letters; or any thing else indeed which they lay their hands on; has induced me (for the reasons assigned in the aforesaid letter of the 6th. of November) to forward a triplicate thereof. And as few of our Vessels escape their search, I send copies, as mentioned above, of all the letters I have had the honor of writing to you since that epoch, by my neighbour and friend, the Reverend Bryan Fairfax, who, though he has not taken the title, is the legitimate Baron of Cameron, and 1798] A THRESHING MACHINE 261 father of Ferdinando Fairfax, to whom, as you are informed in my letter of the 11th. of December, the Estate of Belvoir now belongs by devise from his Uncle, the Honble. George William Fairfax deceased. A long continuance of bad health and a desire to try the effect of Sea Air are the principal, perhaps only, motives which have induced my neighbour to undertake a Voyage to England. He possesses as good a heart and as pure intentions as any man living, as such, I have no scruple in recommending him to your acquaintance and civilities. With very great es teem etc. *To SIR JOHN SINCLAIR Mount Vernon, May 15, 1798. Sir: Permit me to introduce to your acquaintance and civilities, my good friend and neighbour the Reverand Bryan Fairfax who is, though he has not taken upon himself the title, the Baron of Cameron. Ill health, and advice that Sea Air might be a mean of restoring his health, have induced him to take a Voyage to England. The integrity of his heart and benevolence of his mind, need only to be known to procure him esteem, and as I can vouch for these I shall introduce him to you as a Gentleman worthy of your attention. I have the honor etc.57 *To THOMAS C. MARTIN Mount Vernon, May 15, 1798. Sir: In the course of last Autumn, I wrote to you relatively to a thrashing Machine, of which you were the Inventor; and you were obliging enough to give me some account of it; Introductory letters, similar in substance, were also written, May 15, to Rufus King and the Earl of Buchan. Press copies of these are in the Washington Papers. adding, that you had not fully satisfied yourself how far Manual labour or the labour of horses, could be applied to advantage. Since which, indistinct, and contradictory accounts have been received of the result of your experiments. Under this uncertainty, and an earnest wish that you might succeed to the full extent of your expectation and hope, and that you may obtain in the Patent right, ample compensation for your ingenuity, I give you the trouble of receiving this second letter from me; requiring to be informed from yourself whether the Machine can be worked advantagiously by Men, or horses (for I have no water that could be applied to it), and in both, or either mode, what quantity of Wheat might, on a medium, be expected from the work of a day? And, if you are, yourself, perfectly satisfied of the simplicity, and utility of the machine, as an impliment on a farm, that you would inform me (if you have obtained Patents, or digested any mode of dissiminating Instructions) in what manner I could obtain them; and of the previous steps to be taken (by a bill of scantling and the provision of other materials) to facilitate the work; as I should like to have one erected by Harvest; and am willing (if on trial the plan has succeeded) to conform, in all respects to your terms, or to be governed by your directions or advice; or to be at the expence of paying a skilful workman whom you might send hither, for putting such materials together as you might previously order to be provided. To hear from you soon would much oblige Sir Your etc. *To SARAH CARY FAIRFAX 58 Mount Vernon, May 16, 1798. My dear Madam: Five and twenty years, nearly, have passed away since I have considered myself as the permanent resident |