Existing comment:
"A Culprit Who is Going to the Place of His Execution"
George Washington to Henry Knox, April 1, 1789
On March 2, 1789, Secretary of War Henry Knox, in New York, wrote George Washington, in Mount Vernon, to tell him that the quorum needed in Congress to count the votes of the electoral college had still not assembled. In his reply. Washington admitted that for him the delay "may be compared to a reprieve." He explained:
"... my movements to the chair of Government will be accompanied with feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution: so unwilling am I, in the evening of a life nearly consumed in public cares, to quit a peaceful adobe for an Ocean of difficulties, without the competency of political skill -- abilities & inclination which is necessary to manage the helm." |