细节
WASHINGTON, GEORGE, President. Autograph letter signed ("G. Washington"), with a lengthy postscript signed with initials, to his nephew, Bushrod Washington, Mount Vernon, 31 December 1798. 2 3/4 pages, 4to, discreetly silked, a thin patch along one fold affecting about twelve words, second leaf lacking a narrow (1") strip of blank lower edge, otherwise in appealing condition.
WASHINGTON COMMENTS ON A CASE INVOLVING THE ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS AND CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEES OF "LIBERTY OF SPEECH AND OF THE PRESS"
A very fine, thoughtful letter, written during the preparations for the "Quasi-War" with France. "It gave me great pleasure to hear...that you had returned from your Southern Circuit in good health. I presume you will soon have to undertake anotherÿjourney, wh[en I shall hope to see you]. I was not unmindful of your application in behalf of Captn. [Richard Scott] Blackburne. But when the list of applicants came to be unfolded, it was found that there were so many requests of a similar nature, from Officers of the existing Corps, that it was impossible to comply with them, & difficult to discriminate, for which reasons, it was deemed best to reject them in toto; especially, as in the raising of a New Corps, it rarely happens that officers are rawn from the old, and nothing but length of Service, or very distinguished merit, or powerful interest and influence gives birth to the measure...."
"By this conveyance, I have sent to Genl. Marshall, Judge Addison's charge to the Grand Juries of the County Court of the Fifth Circuit, of the State of Pennsylvania, and requested, after he had read it, to give it to you....This charge is on the Liberty of of Speech and of the Press, and is a justification of the Sedition and Alien Laws.
"But I do not believe that anything contained in it; in Evans's Pamphlet [Thomas Evans, Address to the People of Virginia Respecting the Alien and Sedition Laws, Richmond, l798]; or in any other [writing, will] produce the least change in the conduct of the leaders of opposition, to the measures of the General Government. They have points to carry, from which no reasoning -- no inconsistency of conduct -- no absurdity -- can divert them. If, however, such writing should produce convictions on the minds of those who have hitherto placed faith in their assertions, it will be a fortunate event for this Country.
"Has anything been done, and what, with my correspondent Mr. Langhorne? I have heard, since my return from Philadelphia, that there has been some stir in the matter, but of the result I am ignorant. The family here present the Compliments of the Season....I remain your sincere Friend and affectionate Uncle...." In his three-quarter page postscript, Washington alludes to a business transaction with General Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, expressing in thinly-veiled fashion his distrust of his old compatriot: "Let me pray you to get Genl. Lee's Deed to me drawn agreeably to your directions - acknowledged before Witnesses; who will prove it in the General Court.....My Deed to Lee is also sent, to be dealt with as you and he may deem proper: for fu[rther elucida]tion of this subject, I send (in confidence) my letters to Genl. Lee for your perusal; after which to seal & deliver [return] them. You will perceive...in what manner I am likely to be plagued, in obtaining payment for my Dismal Swamp Land, Sold him, but not convey'd...."
Washington's comments on Judge Alexanders Addison's jury charge are of great interest; relating directly to the controversy over the Alien and Sedition Acts. These had been enacted by Congress in June and July 1798, ostensibly because of the threat of war with France, but really motivated by the Federalist Party's alarm over the considerable number of Frenchmen and Americans of French descent thought to be sympathetic to the Jeffersonian Republicans. The act of July 14, 1798 made it a high misdemeanor to "unlawfully combine and conspire" to oppose legal measures of the lawful government, and severe consequences were prescribed for the publication of "false or malicious" writing against the nation, Congress or the Chief Executive. Federalists intended to intimidate and muzzle the anti-Federalist press; it was used to silence Republican editors who had criticized President Adams or his policies. Of the Federalists, only John Marshall agreed with the opposition in terming the act unconstitutional. Washington, who had recently agreed, with some reluctance to leave retirement and take command of the army in preparation for war with France, strongly supported the measures (cf. his letter to Alexander Spottswood of 22 November 1798 in Fitzpatrick, 37:23-24). The former President received a copy of Judge Alexander Addison's jury charge in early December (ibid, 27), and approved of Addison's arguments, which he forwarded on to Marshall on December 30, remarking, in similar terms as he does in the present letter to Bushrod, that, "if this, or other writings flashes conviction as clear as the sun in Meridian brightness, it would produce no effect in the conduct of the leaders of opposition; who, have points to carry, from which nothing will divert them...." (ibid, 76). Published in Writings, ed. J. Fitzpatrick, 37:80-81.
Provenance:
Elsie O. & Philip D. Sang Foundation (sale, Sotheby Parke-Bernet, 20 June 1979, lot 857, illustrated).
WASHINGTON COMMENTS ON A CASE INVOLVING THE ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS AND CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEES OF "LIBERTY OF SPEECH AND OF THE PRESS"
A very fine, thoughtful letter, written during the preparations for the "Quasi-War" with France. "It gave me great pleasure to hear...that you had returned from your Southern Circuit in good health. I presume you will soon have to undertake anotherÿjourney, wh[en I shall hope to see you]. I was not unmindful of your application in behalf of Captn. [Richard Scott] Blackburne. But when the list of applicants came to be unfolded, it was found that there were so many requests of a similar nature, from Officers of the existing Corps, that it was impossible to comply with them, & difficult to discriminate, for which reasons, it was deemed best to reject them in toto; especially, as in the raising of a New Corps, it rarely happens that officers are rawn from the old, and nothing but length of Service, or very distinguished merit, or powerful interest and influence gives birth to the measure...."
"By this conveyance, I have sent to Genl. Marshall, Judge Addison's charge to the Grand Juries of the County Court of the Fifth Circuit, of the State of Pennsylvania, and requested, after he had read it, to give it to you....This charge is on the Liberty of of Speech and of the Press, and is a justification of the Sedition and Alien Laws.
"But I do not believe that anything contained in it; in Evans's Pamphlet [Thomas Evans, Address to the People of Virginia Respecting the Alien and Sedition Laws, Richmond, l798]; or in any other [writing, will] produce the least change in the conduct of the leaders of opposition, to the measures of the General Government. They have points to carry, from which no reasoning -- no inconsistency of conduct -- no absurdity -- can divert them. If, however, such writing should produce convictions on the minds of those who have hitherto placed faith in their assertions, it will be a fortunate event for this Country.
"Has anything been done, and what, with my correspondent Mr. Langhorne? I have heard, since my return from Philadelphia, that there has been some stir in the matter, but of the result I am ignorant. The family here present the Compliments of the Season....I remain your sincere Friend and affectionate Uncle...." In his three-quarter page postscript, Washington alludes to a business transaction with General Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, expressing in thinly-veiled fashion his distrust of his old compatriot: "Let me pray you to get Genl. Lee's Deed to me drawn agreeably to your directions - acknowledged before Witnesses; who will prove it in the General Court.....My Deed to Lee is also sent, to be dealt with as you and he may deem proper: for fu[rther elucida]tion of this subject, I send (in confidence) my letters to Genl. Lee for your perusal; after which to seal & deliver [return] them. You will perceive...in what manner I am likely to be plagued, in obtaining payment for my Dismal Swamp Land, Sold him, but not convey'd...."
Washington's comments on Judge Alexanders Addison's jury charge are of great interest; relating directly to the controversy over the Alien and Sedition Acts. These had been enacted by Congress in June and July 1798, ostensibly because of the threat of war with France, but really motivated by the Federalist Party's alarm over the considerable number of Frenchmen and Americans of French descent thought to be sympathetic to the Jeffersonian Republicans. The act of July 14, 1798 made it a high misdemeanor to "unlawfully combine and conspire" to oppose legal measures of the lawful government, and severe consequences were prescribed for the publication of "false or malicious" writing against the nation, Congress or the Chief Executive. Federalists intended to intimidate and muzzle the anti-Federalist press; it was used to silence Republican editors who had criticized President Adams or his policies. Of the Federalists, only John Marshall agreed with the opposition in terming the act unconstitutional. Washington, who had recently agreed, with some reluctance to leave retirement and take command of the army in preparation for war with France, strongly supported the measures (cf. his letter to Alexander Spottswood of 22 November 1798 in Fitzpatrick, 37:23-24). The former President received a copy of Judge Alexander Addison's jury charge in early December (ibid, 27), and approved of Addison's arguments, which he forwarded on to Marshall on December 30, remarking, in similar terms as he does in the present letter to Bushrod, that, "if this, or other writings flashes conviction as clear as the sun in Meridian brightness, it would produce no effect in the conduct of the leaders of opposition; who, have points to carry, from which nothing will divert them...." (ibid, 76). Published in Writings, ed. J. Fitzpatrick, 37:80-81.
Provenance:
Elsie O. & Philip D. Sang Foundation (sale, Sotheby Parke-Bernet, 20 June 1979, lot 857, illustrated).