ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS AN UNPUBLISHED WASHINGTON LETTER [This letter from General George Washington was given, with a relic from his saddle, to Miss C. M. Webster while she was teaching in Marietta, Ohio, in the year 1835, by Mrs Lewis, a near relation of General Washington. Miss Webster afterward married Rev. J. R. Barnes, author of the poem entitled "A Relic of Washington's Saddle." published in the July issue of this magazine, who now presents an exact copy of the letter for publication. - EDITOR.] WESTERN LAND IN 1770 MOUNT VERNON DR CHARLES If you saw my brother John in Stafford when you were down there at Christmas, if you had any conversation with my Br Sam'l on the subject I mentioned to you; and if any time was proposed for your meeting at this place I should be glad to know it, & beg you will write me a line by the first Post after this gets to hand, informing me of it accordingly; as I want to prepare for my journey, but am desirous before hand of knowing whether I am to go alone, or in company, as it will make some difference in my preparations. As I expect it will shortly be known whether the Officers & Soldiers under the King's Proclamation have any chance to come in for lands West of the Alligany Mountains, I should be glad to know if any of them which may fall in yr way would sell their rights; & upon what terms; tho I have little expectation that any of them would sell upon such terms as I would buy, or any person could afford to buy, unless they warranted the lands; For if the number of Grants (which are of older date to the Kings Proclamation) should take place as there is too much reason to apprehend, if they do not by clashing with each other destroy themselves; I would hardly give an Officer a button for his Right; for besides a large Tract of Country reserved for the Indian Traders from Fort Pitt near 150 miles down the Ohio & up to the Laurell Hills there appeared by a list laid before the House of Burgesses by order of the Govt to be between 6 & 7000ooo of acres actually granted and petitioned for-& most of the grants made in such general & indeterminate terms, that if confirmed no man can lay off a foot of land & be sure of keeping it till they are served. Upon my showing Mr Thurston (who was formerly a Lieutnt & thereby entitled to 2000 acres of Land) a copy of the grants & procedings of the House of Burgesses thereupon he immediately sold his right (tho otherwise very fond of it) to Lund Washington for Ten Pounds. Now could I purchase 12 or 15,000 acres on the same terms I would do it considering of it as a Lottery only; & my reasons for doing so are these. Such a quantity of Land as this added to what I may expect in my own Right, would form a Tract of so great dignity as to render it worth my while to send out a person for the discovery of land, clear if possible of these numerous grants, & to be at some expense & trouble in seating & saving it for without this the land would be forfeited, which I believe will be the case with half the Officers of this Colony if they should actually obtain the Land-& again it would be worth my while thus situated to buy of some who might under their Grants think I clashed with them. Upon the whole, as you are situated in a good place for seeing many of the Officers at different times I should be glad if you would (in a joking way rather than in earnest, at first) see what value they seem to set on their Lands; & if you can buy any of the Rights of those who continued in the Service till after the Cherokee Expedition, at the rate of about five, or six, or seven pounds a thousand acres I shall be oblidged to you & will pay the money on demand—I am of opinion that Chew & some of thos who may be in want of a little ready money would gladly sell nor is to be much wondered at if they should, for if those large grants which I have already mentioned should take place the purchaser will have sunk so much money to very little purpose; nor is the Officer's Rights under the Proclamation of any consequence to those who either does not resolv to go after the Land himself or employ others to do it for him, the first I do not suppose any are inclined to, the last is hardly worth the expense for small tracts; and the Officer is as much obliged to find the Land as any other individual; nor is his Title, if he be not entitled to some degree of preference, a jot better than any other man's who will go in pursuit of lands for himself, except that he is to enjoy it 10 years free of Quit rents.-If you should make any purchases let it be done in your own name for reasons I shall give you when we meet.-Take bonds in large penalties to convey all their Rights under the King's Proclamation to you, & they should be obliged to suffer their names to be made use of to obtain the Land, as the King's Proclamation requires a Personal application to the Govn'r & Council in order to entitle them to the Respective quantities granted. In looking over the list of grants that were laid before the Hse of Burgesses I perceived one for 10,000 acres to a certain Ambrose Powell (who I believe lives in Cullpeper County) lying above the Mouth of the great Kanaway.-His is comprehended within a grant of 200,000 acres, it is also fixed at a place where two or three other Grants are laid & I believe some of them are older; but as it lyes in the way of a scheme I have in view; & would in some smaller degree promote my plan if I had it, I should be obliged to you if you would enquire in a round about way who this Powell is & where he lives, & tell me who you think the most likely person for me to employ to purchase his right to the grant-You need not let your reasons for enquiring after Powell be known, till you have given me what information you can concerning him, least it may give him or others cause to imagine that his grant is more valuable than it really is; In fact I do not think that it is intrinsically worth a groat (tho I would give a little, or 10 pounds for it, if I could not get it for less) inasmuch as it is totally swallowed up in other Grants; but several of this sort may in some measure give me a prior claim to have my share of 200,000 acres above the mouth of the Gr Kanaway where I am told the land is very fine, it is for this reason that I would give a little for Powell's-In the whole of your transactions either with the Officers, or on this other matter, do not let it be known that I have any concern therein.— I have enclosed you a copy of the Bond I drew from Thurston to Lund Washington, which will serve you for a Precedent in case you should make any purchases. -I have put your name in the place of Lund Washington's as I would have the title given to you & not to me, till matters are riper than they appear to be at present. —I shall take care to furnish you with money as you may find occasion to compleat the quantity I have mentioned. Show no part of this letter, so that you can be drawn into no trouble or difficulty in this affair.—In the meantime I should be glad if you would write me fully by the first post after this gets to hand. I am yr most affect Brother GEO. WASHINGTON. P. S. Enclosed you will receive 30 p. to pay the within Acct. of James Brown —tho I think it is a most enormous charge as I would be glad you would tell him. LETTER FROM PIERRE VAN CORTLANDT LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK 1777-1795 Addressed to his son General Philip Van Cortlandt [From the Van Cortlandt papers, contributed by Mrs. Pierre Van Cortlandt] Peekskill, July 17, 1766 Son Philip Received yours of the 3d July. We are all well. The two Frigates and 3 Tenders laying between the store house and Haversham, are, we expect, waiting for a fair wind to go by the forts in the Highlands. We keep a strong guard from Croton to Peekskill. The Tenders have fired at several times on our people, we have received no damages. The brigades of Ten Broeck & Tellers are here. We now have about 1000 men. The forts are full of men, many sent home. I have moved most of our effects to the mill and Peekskill, all hurry here. Just in harvest a barge with the enemy attempted to land at Gardeniers, Collabugh, were beaten off. This manor abounds with Tories. A Resolution of Congress passed making it Treason for any that shall be convicted to conspire against the States. Independence was proclaimed a few days ago. I pray the Lord to be with us all, from your Loving father Pierre Van Cortlandt NOTES MARIA MITCHELL-The famous astronomer, Maria Mitchell, who died in Lynn, Massachusetts, on the 28th of June, was the daughter of a bank cashier in Nantucket. She was born August 1, 1818. Her father was interested in astronomy and built an observatory on the bank building, where Maria at the age of eleven years assisted him in making observations. As she grew older she was known as a clever scholar, and finally taught school in Nantucket, and at eighteen became librarian at the Athenæum and filled the place for twenty years. During this period she spent all her spare time in the study of the skies, and soon surpassed her father both in knowledge of and in devotion to their mysteries. She discovered eight comets, for one of which she received a gold medal from the king of Denmark. In 1858 she visited Europe and the principal observatories of Great Britain, Ireland, and the Continent. In England she was the guest of Sir John Herschel and of Sir George B. Airy, then astronomer royal at Greenwich. She was the guest of Le Verrier in Paris, and of Humboldt in Berlin, and all the first astronomers and scientists paid her high honor and attention. On her return a number of the women of America gave her a large telescope. She was long professor of astronomy at Vassar college. Physically as well as intellectually she was of a strong, rugged nature-tall, wellformed, and muscular. When J. Wells Champney painted her portrait some years ago she insisted on literal fidelity to her appearance. "You cannot make a beauty out of me," she said. She dressed with Quaker sobriety. She attracted the Vassar girls like a magnet, and they regarded her with cordial and enthusiastic affection. In her day and generation she has done noble work, and will always be remembered. ENGLISH AND SCOTCH CAPITALISTS It is said on good authority, in one of the London papers, that "few persons have any idea of the magnitude of the investments of English and Scotch capitalists in the United States. They hold railway bonds to the extent of £150,000,000, yielding, at the average rate of 4 per cent., an annual income of £6,750,000. Ordinary railway shares are held to the amount of about £100,000,000." THACKERAY-In a letter to his wife in 1858 John Lothrop Motley writes: "After breakfast I went down to the British Museum. I had been immersed half an hour in my MSS. when, happening to turn my head round, I found seated next to me Thackeray, with a file of old newspapers before him, writing the ninth number of the Virginians. He took off his spectacles to see who I was, then immediately invited me to dinner the next day (as he seems always to do everybody he meets), which invitation I could not accept, and he then showed me the page he had been writinga small, delicate, legible manuscript. After this we continued our studies. can conceive nothing more harassing in the literary way than his way of living I from hand to mouth. I mean in regard to the way in which he furnishes food for the printer's devil. Here he is just finishing the number which must appear in a few days. Of course, whether ill or well, stupid or fertile, he must produce the same amount of fun, pathos, or sentiment. His gun must be regularly loaded and discharged at command. I should think it would wear his life out." -Correspondence of John Lothrop Mot ley. PURITANISM―John Fiske says in his Beginnings of New England: "It is curious to reflect what might have been the result to America and to the world had things in England gone differently between 1620 and 1660. Had the policy of James and Charles been less formidable, the Puritan exodus might never have occurred, and the Virginian type of society, varied perhaps by a strong Dutch infusion, might have become supreme in America. When the Long Parliament met in 1640 the Puritan exodus to New England came to an end. It is a striking fact, since it expresses a causal relation and not a mere coincidence, that the eleven years, 1629-1640, during which Charles I. governed England without a parliament, were the same eleven years that witnessed the planting of New England. For more than a century after this there was no considerable migration to this part of North America." INDIAN LAWS AMONG THE OMAHAS— When the life of a murderer was spared, which was not usual, he was obliged to submit to punishment from two to four VOL. XXII.-No. 2.-12 years. He must walk barefoot. He could eat no warm food. He could not raise his voice, nor could he look about him. He was compelled to have his robe tied very closely at his throat, even in warm weather; he could not let it hang loosely or fly open. He could not move his hands about, but was obliged to keep them close to his body. He could not comb his hair, and it must not be blown about by the wind. He was obliged to pitch his tent about a quarter of a mile from the rest of the tribe when they were going on the hunt, lest the ghost of his victim should raise a high wind which might cause damage. Only one of his kindred was allowed to remain with him at his tent. Sometimes he wandered at night, crying and lamenting his offense. HAMILTON THE PHILOSOPHY OF JEWELS - An article on this subject, written by Mrs. Haweis, appears in the Contemporary Review for July, which is well worthy of careful reading. The author says: "Just because precious stones in dress represent the last touches in the picture, they must be used with judgment. Women of real taste reject, and ever did reject, jewels and trinkets that are not works of art or do not possess some historic or scientific interest. The diamond is thought to be perfectly becoming to every face, besides being beautiful in itself, and in moderation I think a brilliant spark is so. It gives freshness and life. But the huge electric lamps that millionaires lay on their wives and daughters are not becoming. They destroy entirely the brightness of the eyes and darken a fair skin." |