TRANSCRIPT GLC 2437.18.011
Henry Knox. Autograph letter draft: Boston, to George Washington,
1785 March 24. 3 p. + doc.
[inserted - different hand: HK to Washington] Boston 24 March
1785
My dear Sir
I thank you for your kind favor of the 28 ultimo which I
received last evening with its enclosures, & I sincerely
hope I shall not be under the necessity of troubling you so
much again –But [inserted: in the present instance I
am under the necessity of mentioned] Major Winthrop Sargent
has repeatedly [struck: wrote to] [inserted: informed] me
how agreeable a certificate from you would be to him I at
length promised him that I would request it of you –
He is really clever and was an excellent artillery officer.
I will endevor to make an arrangement of the Lime-stone,
in the manner that shall be the least expensive, but our Winter
continues so long that we have little prospect of spring untill
June [inserted: in which month I will insure to have it forwarded]
[inserted: struck: when it shall be forwarded] – The
Weather is now as severe as at any time during the Winter
and the Snow & ice, but mostly the latter is [struck:
now] three feet upon a level –
I am highly delighted with the delicate gratitude of Virginia,
and am at the same time charmed with your sentiments and [2]
reasoning upon it – [struck: and] I sincerely hope circumstanced
as you are, that you may find a mode of declining the intended
appropriation so as to enhance the respect and affection of
your fellow citizens – My jealousy for your fame is
so [struck: great] [inserted: high], that I should prefer
seeing [struck: my dear General] you Cincinnatus like, following
your plow [struck: in preference of] [inserted: rather than]
accept [struck: ing] the least pecuniary reward, for servics,
which [strike-out] fairly challenge the approbation [inserted:
& admiration] of posterity, [strike-out] [struck: But]
thank the supreme God, you are happily placed above the [struck:
wish] necessity of receiving any assistance –
[inserted at margin: You could my dear Sir, intimate to the
Legislature in a manner which would be clear of every indelicate
imputation that should they think proper to appropriate the
produce of this fund to the maintainance of the Widows, and
the support and education of the orphans of those men of their
own line, who [struck: lost] sacrificed their lives in defence
of [struck: America] [strike-out] that it would be an eternal
[struck: and honorable] monument of the virtue of the Commonwealth
of Virginia – A [struck: measure] [inserted: event]
of this kind, which I am persuaded has been among the number
of expedients conceived by you, would rank Virginia higher
in the annals of America than any other State, and the idea
coming from you would place your warm and disinterested attachment
to suffering innocence in a durable and glorious point of
view – let my affection plead my excuse for this freedom
–]
The mall in this Town has been repaired and the trees replaced
– but I believe the gravel walk is only upon the common
principle, without any cement whatever – I will however
enquire and if there should be any improvement I will with
pleasure communicate it [strike-out] –
You may probably have heard [struck: therefore this] that
Congress have been pleased to appoint me [3] Secretary at
War. [struck: As my views are not ] I have accepted of this
appointment, and shall expect to be in New York about the
15th of next month – From the habits imbibed during
the War, and from the opinion of my friends, that I should
make but an indifferent trader, I thought [struck: upon the
whole] [inserted: upon mature consideration] that it was well
to accept it although the salary (2450 dollars) would but
be but [struck: an indiffe] [inserted: a slender] support
– I have dependence upon an unweildy Estate [inserted:
of Mrs Knox’s family], and upon the public certificates
given for my services, but neither of these are productive,
and require a course of years to render them so – In
the mean time my expences are considerable, and require some
funds for their supply – Congress have rendered the
powers and duties of the Office respectable, and the circumstances
of my appointment without solicitation on [strike-out] [inserted:
my] part were flattering, nine states out of eleven voting
for me, [strike-out] [inserted: for this favorable opinion
of Congress I conceive myself] [strike-out] [inserted: indebted]
– I [strike-out] expect to move my family to New York
untill june next – Mrs Knox [inserted: (whose little
family are well)] unites with me in presenting our affectionate
compliments to Mrs Washington
[docket]
To his Ex: Genl Washington
24 March 1785
Notes: Published in Twohig, Dorothy et al. The Papers of George
Washington. Confederation Series. v. 2: 458- 60.
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