The writings of George Washington; being his correspondence, addresses, messages, and other papers, official and private, selected and published from the original manuscripts; with a life of the author, notes and illustrations. By Jared Sparks.

480 WASHINGTON'S WRITINGS. [APPENDIX.
the contrary, that you wrote it with a bayonet held to your breast, by
order of the unprincipled usurpers of your native city. But my chief
motive for writing to you at this time is to assure you, that I firmly
believe that our just defensive war will be crowned with success, and
that we shall ere long return to our habitations in Philadelphia. I
would, therefore, most earnestly warn you to evade the dismal consequences of your ill-judged address to our beloved General. Do all
you can to wipe off, if possible, its unhappy effects. I tremble for
you, for my good sister, and her little family. I tremble for your
personal safety. Be assured I write this from true brotherly love.
Our intimacy has been of a long duration, even from our early
youth; long and uninterrupted, without even a rub in the way; and
so long have the sweetness of your manners, and the integrity of
your heart, fixed my affections.
"' I am perfectly disposed to attribute this unfortunate step to the
timidity of your temper, the weakness of your nerves, and the undue
influence of those about you. But will the world hold you so excused? Will the individuals you have so freely censured and characterized with contempt have this tenderness for you? I fear not.
They will only judge of your conduct by its rashness, and proportion
their resentment to their sensibility of the wounds you have given.
I pray God to inspire you with some means of extricating yourself
from this embarrassing difficulty. For my own part, I have well
considered the principles on which I took part with my country, and
am determined to abide by them to the last extremity. I beg my
love to my good mother, and my affectionate sisters. I often think
of them with great pain and anxiety, lest they should suffer from the
want of those necessary supplies, that are now cut off. May God
preserve them and you in this time of trial. I am, &c.
1" FRANCIS HOPKINSON."
Mr. Duche went to England with his family, and was appointed a
preacher in the Lambeth Asylum, where the fame of his eloquence
drew around him a large concourse of hearers. He was respected by
the best classes of society, and appears to have received a competent
remuneration for his pastoral services, and to have enjoyed all that
consideration to which he was entitled by his character and profession. He was ill at ease, however, in a foreign land, and sighed to
return to his native country. Tl'he following letter is creditable to
his heart, and shows at least that he was constant in his attachments,
and ready to confess an error into which he had been betrayed by a
weakness of judgment.