That no man can be more opposed to State funds and local prejudices than myself, the whole tenor of my conduct has been one continual evidence of. No man, perhaps, has had better opportunities to see, and to feel, the pernicious tendency of the latter than I have; and I endeavor (I hope not altogether ineffectually) to inculcate them upon the officers of the army, upon all proper occasions: but their feelings are to be attended to and soothed; and they assured, that if Continental funds cannot be established, they will be recommended to their respective States for payment. Justice must be done them.
I should do injustice to reports, and what I believe to be the opinion of the army, were I not to inform you, that they consider you as a friend, zealous to serve them, and one who has espoused their interests in Congress, upon every proper occasion. It is to be wished, as I observed in my letter to Colonel Bland, that Congress would send a committee to the army with plenipotentiary powers. The matters requested of me, in your letter of the , as chairman of a committee, and many other things, might then be brought to a close, with more despatch, and in a happier manner, than it is likely they will be by an intercourse of letters at the distance of one hundred and fifty miles: which takes our Expresses, a week, at least, to go and come. At this moment, being without any instructions from Congress, I am under great embarrassment with respect to the soldiers for the war; and shall be obliged, more than probably, from the necessity of the case, to exercise my own judgment without waiting for orders, as to the discharge of them. If I should adopt measures which events may approve, all will be well. If otherwise, Why and by what authority did you do so?
How far a strong recommendation from Congress, to observe all the Articles of Peace, as well as the , may imply a suspicion of good faith in the people of this country, I pretend not to judge: but I am much mistaken, if something of the kind will not be found wanting; as I already perceive a disposition to carp at, and to elude, such parts of the treaty as affect their different interests; although you do not find a man, who, when pushed, will not acknowledge, that, upon the whole, it is a more advantageous Peace than we could possibly have expected.
I am, dear Sir,
With great esteem and regard,
Your most obedient servant,
G. Washington.
To the Hon. Alexander Hamilton.
WASHINGTON TO HAMILTON.
Newburgh, April 22, 1783.
Dear Sir:
I did not receive your letter of the fifteenth, till after my return from Ringwood, where I had a meeting with the Secretary at War, for the purpose of making arrangements for the release of our prisoners, agreeably to the resolve of Congress of the fifteenth instant.
Finding a diversity of opinion respecting the treaty, and the line of conduct we ought to observe with the prisoners, I requested, in precise terms, to know from General Lincoln (before I entered on the business), whether we were to exercise our own judgment with respect to the time, as well as the mode, of releasing them; or were to be confined to the latter: being informed that we had no option in the first, Congress wishing to be eased of the expense as soon as possible, I acted solely on that ground.