APRIL 27th
share on:
“I have been accustomed to pay so much respect to the opinion of my fellow-citizens, that the knowledge of their having given their unanimous suffrages in my favor, scarcely leaves me the alternative for an option. I can not, I believe, give a greater evidence of my sensibility of the honor which they have done me than by accepting the appointment.”
Artist: B.B. Ellis. NPG
To Charles Thomson
Mount Vernon, 14 April 1789
Sir,
I have been accustomed to pay so much respect to the opinion of my fellow-citizens, that the knowledge of their having given their unanimous suffrages in my favor, scarcely leaves me the alternative for an option. I can not, I believe, give a greater evidence of my sensibility of the honor which they have done me than by accepting the appointment.
I am so much affected by this fresh proof of my country’s Esteem and Confidence that silence can best explain my gratitude. While I realize the arduous nature of the Task which is imposed upon me, and feel my own inability to perform it, I wish however that there may not be reason for regretting the Choice, for indeed all I can promise is only to accomplish that which can be done by an honest zeal.
Upon considering how long a time some of the Gentlemen of both Houses of Congress have been at New York, how anxiously desirous they must be to proceed to business, and how deeply the public mind appears to be impressed with the necessity of doing it speedily, I can not find myself at liberty to delay my journey. I shall therefore be in readiness to set out the day after tomorrow* and shall be happy in the pleasure of your company; for you will permit me to say that it is a peculiar gratification to have received the communication from you.
G:o Washington
* “Washington left Mount Vernon for New York about 10 a. m. on April 16, accompanied by Charles Thomson and David Humphreys.” — Fitzpatrick, et al., WGW
THE DIARIES OF GEORGE WASHINGTON
1789
APRIL
16. — About ten o’clock I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and to domestic felicity, and with a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful sensations than I have words to express, set out for New York in company with Mr. Thomson and Colo. Humphreys, with the best disposition to render service to my country in obedience to its calls, but with less hope of answering its expectations. (Sparks, Writings of Washington [Boston, 1836], 10. 461.)
GEORGE WASHINGTON:
THE INTERVIEW POWERED BY A.I.
In the hallowed halls of history, a voice echoes once more as “George Washington: The Interview” unfurls a never-before-seen side of America’s first President. This electrifying book transcends the boundaries of time, employing state-of-the-art technology and primary source material to bring you face-to-face with the man who laid the cornerstone of the nation we know today. Journey through the intimate details of Washington’s life as he reveals the victories and defeats, the triumphs and tragedies of his storied past.
Are you ready to step into the past and meet the man behind the myth?