which you must have of the country, and the very favorable representations I have received of your character, have induced me to request, Sir, that you would assist me in the settlement of these lands, which, if you incline to do, I have requested Colonel Lewis (in the enclosed letter, left open for your perusal, and which, if you accept the trust, you will please to seal and forward to him,) to deliver into your hands, or to your order, the instructions and other papers respecting my lands, which he received from me. These will show you my general ideas on this subject, and give you better information respecting it, than I am able to do here, as all my land papers are at Mount Vernon.

I must however add, that, although I may, in my instructions to Colonel Lewis, have mentioned some particular terms, upon which I wished to have the lands rented, yet in my letters to him, if my recollection serves me, I desired him to be governed by the custom of the country in this business rather than by my instructions, and to get them settled on the best terms he could, provided the leases were not given for too long a period, and the taxes were paid by the tenant. This I would repeat to you; for my great object at present is, to have the lands settled, and be exonerated from the taxes. I do not expect they will yield me an immediate profit. I would not, however, wish to have the lands incumbered with long leases; for it is my opinion that property in that country will fast increase in value, and in that case long leases, upon the terms on which they will probably be given to first settlers, will be much against the landlord; and they are always considered as an obstacle to the sale of lands.

I will thank you, Sir, for an answer to this letter, as soon as it gets to your hands, that I may know upon what ground I stand, as to my property in that country. I am, Sir, &c.

SIR,

TO ROBERT SINCLAIR, SCOTLAND.

Philadelphia, 6 May, 1792.

I have received your letter of the 12th of December, in which you request information respecting Captain James Mackay, and likewise respecting the part of this country, which would be the most eligible for forming an establishment as a farmer or planter.

The only information in my power to give you on the first head is, that my acquaintance with Captain Mackay commenced in the army, in the year 1754, when I commanded the troops, which were sent to prevent the encroachments of the French upon the western boundaries of the then colonies. Captain Mackay then commanded an Independent Company, either from Georgia or South Carolina, and was captured with me by an army of French and Indians, at a place called the Great Meadows. In 1755, he left the service, sold out, and went to Georgia.

I heard nothing of him from that time till about five or six years ago, when he went by water from Georgia to Rhode Island on account of his health. On his return to Georgia by land, he was seized either by the complaint for which he had gone to Rhode Island, or by some other disorder, and died at Alexandria; not at my house, as your letter mentions. I was not informed of his being at Alexandria until after his death, which was a circumstance that I regretted much, not only on account of the regard which I had for him, from our former acquaintance, but because I understood that he was then on his way to pay me a visit, and had expressed an anxious desire to see me before he died. I do not know whether Captain Mackay left any family or not; for, from the time of his quitting the service until his death, as I observed before, I knew nothing of him. I have, however, been informed, that he was possessed of a handsome property in Georgia.

On the second head of your inquiry, I can hardly venture to give you an opinion. I do not, however, imagine, that an establishment on the banks of the Mississippi would, at this time, be a very desirable one; and even the western parts of the United States, lying on the waters running into the Mississippi, which is perhaps as fertile a country as any in the world, are now disturbed by the hostilities of some of the Indian tribes bordering upon them, and from that cause are at this moment unfriendly to new settlements. This evil will, however, I trust, be shortly removed, and settlers may sit down there in safety.

I can observe, generally, that the United States, from their extent, offer a variety of climate, soil, and situations, that no country in Europe can afford; and that, in cheapness of land, and in the blessings of civil and religious liberty, they stand perhaps unrivalled by any civilized nation on earth. To a person, who intends to pursue the farming or planting business, and is possessed of the capital which you mention, I should think some of the middle States, from New York to Virginia, both inclusive, would hold out the best advantages. They are free from the inconveniences peculiar to either extreme, and unite most of the advantages of both; they afford to the farmer a ready market for his produce; the country is intersected by large and numerous rivers, and the spirit which now prevails for improving inland navigation promises to secure a cheap and easy transportation from the most interior parts of the country to the shipping-ports.

Your idea of bringing over Highlanders appears to be a good one. They are a hardy, industrious people, well calculated to form new settlements, and will, in time, become valuable citizens.

Before I close this subject, I would observe, that many persons in Europe, who have purchased land in this country for the purpose of settling upon it themselves, have, on their arrival, after examining their purchase, been disappointed in their expectations respecting it. Exaggerations, if not misrepresentations, are apt to be made of objects at so great a distance; and those, who have lands for sale, will naturally give them a gloss, which, perhaps, a purchaser would hardly find.

It would, therefore, be much more satisfactory to the purchaser, and far more creditable to the country, if those persons, who wish to purchase land here, and become settlers upon it themselves, would come into the country and purchase upon the spot. They would then suit their taste in point of situation, have a variety to choose from, and see, and learn with truth, all the circumstances necessary for them to know, to become settlers.

When this method is pursued, I am persuaded that every one, who comes over with a view to establish himself here, may do it much to his satisfaction; and, if he has with him the means of purchasing, it can certainly be done on much better terms, than it could be through an agent. I am, Sir, &c.

TO THE COMMISSIONERS OF THE FEDERAL DISTRICT.*

Philadelphia, 18 December, 1792.

GENTLEMEN, Your letter to the Secretary of State, dated, if I recollect rightly, the 5th instant, intimating, among other things, that you had failed in an attempt which had been made to import workmen from Scotland, equally with that for obtaining them from Holland, fills me with real concern; for I am very apprehensive, if your next campaign in the Federal City is not marked with vigor, it will cast such a cloud over this business, and will so arm the enemies of the measure, as to enable them to give it, if not its death blow, a wound from which it will not easily recover. No means, therefore, in my opinion should be left unessayed to facilitate the operations of next year. Every thing, in a manner, depends upon the celerity with which the public buildings are then carried on; sale of lots, private buildings, good or evil reports, all, all will be regulated thereby. Nothing, therefore, short of the absolute want of money ought to retard the work.

The more I consider the subject, the more I am convinced of the expediency of importing a number of workmen from Europe to be employed in the Federal City. The measure has not only economy to recommend it, but is important, by placing the quantity of labor, which may be performed by such persons, upon a certainty, for the term for which they shall be engaged.

Upon more minute inquiry I am informed, that neither the merchants here nor in Holland will undertake to procure redemp tioners from Germany; and that the most eligible and certain mode of obtaining from thence such mechanics and laborers, as it may be thought advisable to procure from that quarter, will be to engage some person, a German, to go from hence into Germany, where he is acquainted, to procure the requisite number of men, and bring them to the shipping-port, which is generally Amsterdam or Rotterdam; and that any merchant here, who is engaged in shipping and trading to Holland, will engage to have a vessel ready to take them on board, at a time which shall be fixed, bring them to any port of the United States that may be

* It may be here remarked, that in Washington's letter-books is a very large correspondence on the subject of the District of Columbia. But these letters treat so exclusively on local topics, and run so much into details, that they are not suited to the plan of the present work. Two or three only are selected as specimens of the whole, and on account of their general interest. VOL. XII. 39 Z*

specified, and receive the amount of their passage on delivery of

them.

The person, who may be employed to go over to Germany, will expect, it is said, an advance of one guinea per head for the number wanted, to enable him to pay the expenses of such as may not be able to bear their own, from the place where he procures them to the shipping-port; and this advance is accounted for and taken into consideration at the time of paying for their passage when they arrive here. The customary passage, it seems, is eleven guineas per head; and the compensation of the person employed to procure them is either one guinea a head, for as many as he may deliver, part of which is paid by those who employ him to go over, and part by the merchant who furnishes the vessel to bring them, as he receives a benefit by the freight; or the person employed keeps an account of his necessary expenses while on this business, which is paid by his employers, and a consideration for his services is made him, according to a previous agreement.

The term of time, for which these people are bound to serve, depends much, it is added, upon their age or ability as laborers, or their skill as mechanics. The former generally serve three or four years; and the latter, if good workmen at their trade, two. But, in this case, that it would be better for the person, employed to get them, to have them indented at the time of engaging them, specifying the number of years they are to serve, to commence at the time of their landing in the United States; and that he ought to be furnished with the necessary forms of indentures, and particular instructions on this head, before he goes over; and, if mechanics of a particular description are most essential, it would be well, in order to secure their services beyond the term for which they might be engaged for their passages, to stipulate, at the time of engaging them, that they should serve one, two, or three years, over and above that time, at per annum. And, as it may happen, that some good mechanics may be willing to come over, who are able to pay their own passage, might it not be well to empower the person sent to engage them at year for four years? In all cases to provide, that if those who engage as mechanics should be found incompetent to the business for which they engage, from a want of skill or knowledge in it, and shall appear to have used imposition in engaging themselves as such, they shall be obliged to serve the time of common laborers.

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